Runaway
by 1-Artemis-Hunter-1
Summary: AU. Gregor is a runaway that lives on the streets of New York, he has street smarts but not even that keeps him out of trouble. One day he finds a cave to hide in and it transports him to a whole new world with giant animals with a weird breed of pale humans. Can he finally fit in with this group of misfits? T for now because I'm paranoid. Complete: Prophecy of Bane coming soon!
1. Chapter 1

Running. . . Running. . . Running.

It seemed all I ever did was run. Run from problems, from blessings, the law; the latter happening more often than I would like to admit. It was happening now, but that was hardly surprising. It wasn't my fault this time, honest. I don't do explosives, but do the police care? No.

To the uncaring eye of the law, I was just another homeless street rat. The worst part was the staring, eyes following my movements; reflecting with annoyance and disgust at my unkempt hair or dirty clothes. Unfortunately there was quite a few more heartless people in the world than sympathetic.

As quietly as I could, I ducked behind a particularly large tree to catch some of my ever so elusive breath. My head fell against the rough bark of the trunk and pinched my eyes tight, the pain in my chest subsiding slowly. Running kept me in shape, sure, but I am human despite what others think and I could only go so long.

Air caught in my scratchy throat much to my lungs' displeasure as heavy footfalls crunched against crisp leaves that marked the beginning of Fall. Just as they stopped, loud panting filled the gap created in the unnaturally silent forest. It was as if the creatures dwelling here were watching a movie; on the edge of their seats, deadly quiet as not to miss if the hero would be captured or escape like he had many times before.

I was that hero, and I would not disappoint my fans.

"He has to be here!" An exhausted, gruff voice grunted out. My oxygen deprived cells demanded I take another breath but I dared not satisfy the request. "Split up, I won't let him get away again."

If only he knew.

Two pairs of boots began a search, edging ever closer to my tree. My eyes jumped, scanning the surroundings for any mean of escaping my foes. Nearly fifty feet to my right there was a natural cave made of limestone. Perfect.

Taking a quick peek around the trunk of my tree, I immediately pulled back at the sudden closeness of my two pursuers. Allowing myself to take a deep breath, I prepared myself for a mad dash. There was no way to get to my shelter without both of them seeing me.

 _Now or never._ I let my tight muscles release to propel myself forward with impressive speed.

"There he is!" No dip Sherlock.

I heard the click of metal on metal before a younger female voice called out for the first time. "You can't shoot him!" The desperation in her voice almost made me turn around.

Almost.

I quickened my pace as I approached the stone structure. Twenty feet left. Time felt lagged as the heavy weight of my backpack became glaringly obvious and I tried to work my legs harder.

"Don't try to protect him, rookie, he's bad news!" The sound of his voice grew faint as I put more space between myself and him. Another click. "Only a criminal runs from their crime." The deafening blast of a gunshot rang out and I flinched, my eardrums protesting against the sharp explosion.

I dove, sliding feet first towards the cave. My heart skipped a beat as a 'ping' of the collision between rock and metal rained small particles of limestone down on my face.

Just as I registered the sound, the ground under me disappeared. I waved my hands desperately but found no solid mass anywhere and my panic started to rise. My eyes strained against the pitch black tunnel that seemed never to end. I didn't know what's waiting for me at the bottom of this endless free fall, or if I was to survive the impact, but the 'unknown' couldn't be worse than the cruel world that waited for me above.

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 **Well that's just the beginning, a prologue if you will, and if you guys like it feel free to drop me a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback always helps! Thanks!**

 **Artemis.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just a heads up I thought I'd put this in now.**

 **I don't own the Underland Chronicles or believe me there would be a 6th book. I don't own any of the character, just the plot.**

 **Also, I bumped the ages to make everything a bit more interesting ;)**

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I could barely remember the last time I had to wait this long to die. Silently flapping in the breeze for I couldn't even remember how long in this never ending, pitch black tunnel. The wait was going to kill me way before the splat that came at the end even got the chance.

At least that's what I thought.

My eyes had adjusted enough for me to see when steep, smooth obsidian like rock walls suddenly disappeared to reveal an open cavern with the first sign of light since I fell. The highest points of the huge expanse were lined by a row of perfectly straight torches; like the kind from medieval movies.

I hardly had time to admire the decor as I floated on my back towards the ground and as I could feel it near, real fear started to peek in my bloodstream, pushing my heart as fast as it would go.

I was actually surprised by how long it took to reach the ground, but as soon as I hit the uneven gravel terrain, the only thing that ran through my mind was extreme pain. The back of my head throbbed at the point of contact and a moment passed when I could not take in a solid breath.

Alarm boiled in my system and I scrambled onto my side, kneeling to open my airway and desperately gasping until the black spots in my vision faded, though it was hard to tell in this environment, yet I stayed in my curled position as I adapted to how close I came to dying in the extreme fall.

Not sure how long I spent like that, but I eventually managed to shakily stand and took in the surroundings. The cavern was as large as a football stadium with a rough ground surface and slick black walls. The tops lined with torches, much further up than any ladder could reach yet it was impossible for any kind of helicopter to fit, so it seemed impossible for them to have gotten up there. They lit the way clearly to the left but seemed to taper off to the right.

Obviously the best path was the left, so instead of just sitting in the tunnel for anything to happen, I made the executive decision to follow the torches. The walk was not my longest considering I had used my feet to get from Virginia to New York, but with no landmarks to catch my eye or any way to tell how far I had actually gone, it felt endless.

That is, until the roar of the crowd made me flash back to my first college football game with my dad. The sudden sound shocked my earbuds and I physically recalled, it seemed to be coming from nowhere but surrounded me at the same time. The torches ended at the dead end ahead but when I stuck my hand out, rock was not what I touched; instead my hand disappeared in a soft medium that fluttered around like wings.

I took a deep breath and pushed through the thin, velvety curtain and it expanded around me as I moved while brushing against my skin with feather light butterfly kisses. The blackness gave way to the most light I had encountered the entire time down here.

Screams and shouts unrelated to a sporting event called out when I stumbled in the bright light. I rubbed my eyes back into focus after being so adjusted to the darkness while the loud noises turned to gasps and murmurs then absolutely nothing. Blinking the white blocks out of my vision to see the extent of the arena, I saw the full amphitheatre was packed with an unnaturally mute crowd.

Just as I opened my eyes, a quick brown object raced towards me and before I could consciously think about it, my hand snapped out to grasp the small leather ball inches to the right of my head.

Moments passed by that felt like hours and I tried to find anyone but in the large expanse of the field, no athlete or any people were present like I had expected for an arena this big. I would have thought there was some kind of sport going on from the sporadic cheers. A flash of gold directed my attention, and I finally found the players. They were suspended above me on giant bats.

What happened next had me questioning whether or not I actually died in that fall and this was all just a dream. Five meters in front of me, a large golden bat landed on the mossy field with a silver haired rider mount on its back.

The elegant passenger stood and moved towards the bat's wing which had lowered to touch the ground so they could walk down. It was then that I realized the rider was a young woman; her long silver blonde was braided but still reached nearly past her waist and the top of her head was encircled by a golden band. She was dressed in simple yet opulent clothing that seemed to shine in the torch light, adorned by leather accessories like a belt that held not just a sword but matching sheathed knives on her calves and thigh.

She was badass beautiful.

I did my best to not gasp at her like a fish out of water as she stalked towards me with a confident strut. I gulped and the hand at my side gripped the foreign object tighter when she came to a stop just a few feet away. I was shocked by the bright purple that stared back at me in her analytical eyes, standing frozen as they raked up and down my body almost as if she was sizing me up despite I was nearly twice her size and a foot taller.

"I think this is yours." I blurted, silently thanking that my voice didn't quiver like my heart was but screaming that I looked idiotic with my arm thrust out in front of me, holding the ball in my fingertips.

With a small, cocky smirk she reached up with skinny fingers and the lightest, most transparent skin I had ever seen; it reminded me of when you can see old people's' veins in their hands and arms except she made me think of everything but my grandma. When our hands touched she visually twitched away at the shock between our skin, her lips turned down just the slightest bit but recovered to take it none the less.

Finally she opened her mouth, her voice crisp, formal and feudal. "I am Queen Luxa, welcome to Regalia, Overlander." She turned on her heel and started walking back towards the waiting bat she arrived on, pausing with her hand on the beast's side. "Come, you must bathe."

My hand went to my chest, pulling at my shirt with a frown. "I know I haven't showered in a...few days but I didn't think it was that bad."

For the first time she chuckled under her breath and jumped onto the bat. "You smell strongly but for another reason: you smell of the Overland, and that is a sentence for death." By the end of her explanation any trace of amusement had disappeared, her voice became heavy like she spoke from experience. "Come."

I followed immediately like the command pulled strings on my arms and legs, stopping hesitantly next to the large creature. Luxa reached down and offered her hand to theoretically help me up but I was tentative to accept. I caught her curious gaze, becoming more confident when I found it full of sympathy and support instead of agitation or judgment. A deep breath later, I reached up to grasp her forearm.

As I touched her skin, I felt the contact zip through my spine and almost dropped five feet on my back, but I managed to grip the bat's fur tighter and haul myself up behind her. I wasn't sure what to do with my hands until we took flight and immediately wrapped them loosely around her waist, trying to avoid cutting myself on the multiple sharp weapons on her belt.

We flew over the city that looked like it was molded straight from the stone floor of the cavern, gently illuminated by torches inside and out. It was all so serene. Even from this high up I could see the people moving freely through the streets. It made me apprehensive to why exactly their queen was decked out in so much sharp steel.

Despite how beautiful it was, the height made my stomach curdle. My arms tightened around her waist and I had to hide my eyes in her thick braid. I felt like a child hiding from a stranger behind their mother's leg, but my embarrassment could never match my irrational phobia of heights. I had to focus on my breathing the whole ride, but thankfully Luxa didn't comment whether she understood or was just focusing more on directing our flapping vehicle.

When we landed, Luxa was off her bat as soon as I disconnected my hands from around her abdomen. "This way." I blinked at the swift action but quickly slipped off the bat.

I jogged lightly to catch up with her before she disappeared behind a corner. "What is this place?" I asked a bit in wonder, glancing around at the artwork adorning the smooth walls, they too looked like they just grew out of the floor, not like they had been separate pieces put together.

"The Underland, you are from the Overland." She answered easily, paying more attention to walking.

I nodded even though she could not see me.

"What are you called, Overlander?" She asked as I fell into step next to her.

"Gregor." I answered, smiling when she turned her head slightly in my direction, looking at me from the corner of her eye while trying to retain the regal stance as she walked. "Are you really a queen? You don't look very old."

"I am seventeen years of age," She informed me as a matter a fact, her head high like it was some kind of extreme accomplishment.

I smirked, crossing my arms behind my back and leaned over to whisper to her. "Well your highness, I am eighteen."

Leaning back, I could see her jaw set and her chin lifted even more towards the ceiling yet her eyes shined with challenging amusement. We stopped in front of two open stone archways. "You will bathe here, I shall send a guard with a new set of clothing; we will burn your current pair."

I shrugged, my clothes were caked with dirt probably older than me. "Sure, not a real loss." Even though I suspected approving of the action would have done little to deter her from doing it, I agreed anyway. I took a quick glance through the open stone doorway to get a glimpse of what was inside, turning back to her and dipped my head in a pseudo bow, delighted when she too inclined hers closer. "Will I see you later on, milady?"

Luxa looked up at me through her lashes with an intense gaze and a sinful smile. "Perhaps, goodbye Overlander." She dismissed, her hair flipping over her shoulder as she spinned. I was about to turn and enter the locker room when she pivoted at the corner, her hand on the wall and head just barely tilted back to me. "Gregor."

My heart fluttered and I had to take a deep breath to calm it. I shook my head and quickly made my way into the large lavatory. Along the walls were incredible carvings of a huge underwater scenes, lit by oil lamps instead of the common torches. Long rows of benches and open stalls adorned one wall and the other side held enormous basins that were filled with clear water, trickling over one edge yet stayed full.

 _That must be the bath._ I reasoned to myself, starting to shrug off my worn brown jacket, dirt stained jeans, and oversized tee shirt. Doing the same with my falling apart sneakers and socks, I stripped off my underwear last and climbed into the pool.

Standing, the water barely reached my waist but was surprisingly warm and I melted to the stone bench where it sat comfortably up to my armpits. I hadn't taken in a real shower in months and ten times since then had I been in a bath. It felt amazing.

After a few minutes I relented and reached for one of the many soaps lining the rim. I smelled it, unsure if the blueish one I picked up was shampoo or body wash. Throwing it up to faith, I rubbed a big glop into my hair then dunked my head underwater. I ended up staying under as long as I could after kneading the suds out, revealing in the surrounding warmth and quiet.

I was contemplating getting out when a man walked in. "Greetings Overlander, I have brought you new clothing, I hope they fit; I can get a new size if it does not."

"Sure, thanks. Can you bring me a towel?" I rubbed my leg under the water, a little embarrassed that I forgot about needing one but also not expecting to have an audience.

The man gave a quick bow at the waist. "Of course, I will wait in the hall while you dress."

I was relieved to hear that and accepted the folded white towel from him, waiting until he was around the corner to finally step out. As I dried myself off, I was amazed by the texture of not just the towel but the new set of clothes; they felt like they were made out of the most expensive kind of silk yet like something entirely different at the same time. Slipping my feet into the woven sandals, I headed out to the hall to meet the guard.

"How do your clothes fit?" He asked, his expression so open and wanting nothing more to please.

I nodded, running my hands over the seams of the incredible fabric. "Yeah, they're perfect and this stuff is so soft, if I never have another clean pair of clothes I'd be ok with it."

The man blinked at me, not quite understanding the joke but quickly rebounded. "Please come with me, the princess has directed me to escort you to the dining hall. The royal family has requested your presence for dinner in High Hall."

After a moment of thought I followed behind the sizable man as he made his way down the hall without even checking if I had accompanied him. "The princess?"

"Luxa. She brought you to the palace, though I am not extremely shocked to see she did not introduce herself." He chuckled lightly under his breath, giving a friendly wave to a passing woman with a tray and the same smile to me. If he was concerned about Luxa being angry about his comment he didn't show it.

"Oh, she introduced herself." I laughed, shaking my head because now I had this amazing piece of blackmail on the royal, should I ever need to break it out. "But as the queen."

He laughed so loud his muscles expanded under the pressure showing they were indeed larger than my head. "Yes, Luxa has been calling herself the queen ever since she was eleven years of age. She will not actually become Queen until the day of her eighteenth year, but she is quite the stubborn one and insists on it." He shrugged. "I do not mind, for it will be the truth one day."

I nodded, joining his laughter and completely relaxing as we continued our stroll through the palace in a pleasant calm. "What did you say your name was?" I asked, realising somewhat embarrassingly that I had never bothered to find out.

As if he was abashed by forgetting, he stopped and offered his hand to me. "Forgive me, Overlander! I am called Mareth, I am a guard for the royal family."

When I extended my hand to shake his, he went ahead to grasp my forearm and held it tight for a moment, meeting my gaze with a nod before letting go. "Nice to meet you, my name is Gregor."

"Gregor," He repeated, acknowledging it with a grin. "A fine name indeed. Come, come. The royal family surely will be ready for your arrival." Mareth picked up his pace and we quickly came to an extravagant hall. The room had intricately carved walls, a rectangular stone dining table, and matching chairs. On it were at least thirty plates and utensils.

The most glaring adornment of the room was the extreme lack of a ceiling. "You forgot the roof." I pointed.

Mareth's laugh boomed through the open area. "Yes, it is meant to be so, the flyers may land at once. Look."

I looked up just as three large bats landed, riding them were two adults I didn't recognize, no shocker there, and Luxa. After dismounting, the three approached us with enthusiastic smiles. The woman, who stood straight and looked like the most intimidating grandma I had ever seen, reached out to take both of my hands. "Welcome Gregor, it is an honor to have you."

"Thank you." I gave her my best formal nod as what Mareth said about royal family rang through my mind, the last thing I wanted to do was insult the people with all the power of condemning me to death. "The pleasure is all mine, ma'am."

The elderly woman returned the nod, her smile growing. "I am called Solovet and this is Vikus, my husband."

With his introduction, the aged man stepped forward and offered his hand the same way Mareth had. Picking up on the gesture, I grasped his forearm firmly in greeting. "Gregor the Overlander, the Underland buzzes with the news of your arrival." Nodding, I wasn't so sure how to respond to that. Thankfully he continued so I didn't have to, opening his wingspan to the girl waiting quietly behind him. "Of course you have met my granddaughter, Luxa."

I met her eyes and smiled, her lips neutral but betrayed by her mischievous leer. "Come, let us dine!" Vikus's large voice caught us both off guard and I felt myself physically jump, but Luxa handled it more smoothly.

Luxa and I followed the couple to the large table. Before she could, I pulled out a stone chair for my newest friend. "Allow me, princess." I held her gaze and saw with delight that her eyes grew wide when it became clear I had caught her little trick. With her mouth pressed into an irritated line, I sat in the seat beside her just barely containing my exhilaration.

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 **Well I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review: I love to read them!**

 **Artemis.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back! I forgot to put it in my last chapter but Happy late Halloween! I love Halloween, my favourite holiday by far plus it's my birthday so I've always looked forward to it :)**

 **Anyway, I don't own the Underland Chronicles or any of the characters.**

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Luxa swooped in wearing an elegant dress, her hair was down as a silver sheet, and all signs of her weapons were gone except I swear I saw one knife strapped to her ankle.

After everyone sat down, a large grey bat also flew in and landed next to Vikus. "Gregor the Overlander," I sighed at the title, couldn't I be just Gregor? "Meet you Euripides, he is bonded to myself, and you have meet Aurora."

I gave a small wave to both bats, not expecting one of them to open their mouths and greet me. "Greetings, Overlander." The grey one purred with a slight bow of his head.

My eyes must have popped out the sockets because Luxa tried to conceal her laughter behind her hand but failed miserably. Vikus sent her a look and she stopped almost immediately. "What does that mean, to be bonded?"

"We keep each other alive." Luxa answered, her voice bleak and poking at her fish somberly.

"Oh." I muttered, mimicking her awkward silence and tried to forget about it.

Solovet picked up the conversation after a few beats of stiff silence. "Gregor, do you have a profession in the Overland?"

I looked up from my plate, glad for the distraction from the hostile vibes I could basically feel coming off of Luxa. "Like, as a job?" She nodded briefly while chewing and I frowned, going back to my food. My silence drew eyes, it felt like even my fish was staring at me. "I don't have one. I live on the streets. I usually eat from dumpsters, so this meal is really good." I stuffed as much food as I could fit on the spoon into my mouth and ducked my head.

"What of your family?" Luxa spoke for the first time in like twenty minutes, her voice was quiet like I actually surprised her.

I almost wanted to pretend I was still chewing but answered anyway. "I don't have one."

Solovet and Vikus shared a glance, I wasn't sure what Luxa was doing when suddenly a humongus black bat sweeped into the room with dramatic flare that clearly came from the rider; he stood on its back with his hands on his hips as they landed. _Great, a showoff._ I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"Henry." Vikus greeted, I almost choked on my rice because in a world with names like Solovet and Vikus this kid's name was Henry, unaffected by the flair he had arrived in. Jeez, what if that was normal for this kid? "I am glad you could join us for dinner, come, meet you Gregor the Overlander."

I almost stood to shake his hand when he quite literally threw his head back and laughed, reminding me of an overgrown Peter Pan. "Yes, I saw him in the arena but I am here with a surprise. A second Overlander has arrived."

The elderly couple stood immediately and called to Vikus's bat. "Gregor, ride you with Luxa or I?" Vikus asked quickly almost like he forgot I was there.

I waved him off, slowly standing myself. "Go ahead, I will ride with Luxa." He nodded gratefully and mounted Euripides in front of Solovet, speeding off through the hole in the ceiling. Sighing, I hesitantly walked to where Luxa had joined Henry after he jumped off his bat, not wanting to break up the fun they were obviously having.

Henry burst out in laughter at something Luxa said so I took that time to insert myself. "Should we get going?" Attempting to give him my best, friendly smile. I felt Luxa shift next to me and I realised how close to her I stood.

Henry wiped his eye and quelled his laughter. "Yes, of course, Overlander." He bowed dramatically towards Aurora.

"Go Henry, I wish to change my clothing." Luxa turned to me. "Ride you with Henry, Overlander, I will arrive shortly." I nodded at her and tried not to be too affected by the impersonal Overlander comment.

"Meet you my bond, Ares." Henry patted the bat's side before jumping up, looking down at me expectantly. With a deep breath I steeled my resolve and did my best not to hurt Ares by following his path. Unlike with Luxa, I sat as far away from Henry as I could and held onto his bat's dark black fur as we flew towards the arena.

"This Overlander is a young girl." He said after a minute, the joy and laughter no longer present in his voice. "I would say eight years at the most." I nodded but didn't bother saying anything in return. "We shall wait for my cousin before confronting the girl."

My head snapped up. "You and Luxa are cousins?" We landed and Henry slipped off the bat, walking halfway toward a young girl surrounded by giant bugs. Not just giant bugs but huge, horse like cockroaches. And she was playing with them. "What the hell! Those things are..!" I gasped, totally at a loss for words.

Henry snarked, his hands on his hips again. "Yes, quite the ugly creatures are they not? More useless than a rock, but at least you could throw a rock in battle, a crawler would run away!"

"You forget cousin," Luxa dropped from no where, well obviously it must have been from above us on a hovering Aurora, but it did no less to scare the crap out of me. "The crawlers have survived here long before we."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Of course, dearest cousin. I see Vikus's lessons have stuck."

Luxa smirked, mocking him with her hands on her hips. She had dressed in a pair of pants and shirt similar to the one from earlier but sans the multitude of sharp weapons. "Though it does not mean I do not agree with you. Come Overlander, let us meet our visitor."

I followed behind her like a puppy, leaving Henry to stand by Ares by himself. As we neared, the girl noticed us and grinned, waving her hand dramatically towards us. "Hi! Hi, you!" I couldn't help but smile at the little one as she innocently patted the cockroach's head somewhat aggressively, but it didn't seem to mind, it was almost...happy.

"What are you called?" Luxa asked shortly, standing a few feet further than the girl than she had to, like she was frightened of the young one.

The girl tilted her head like a puppy, unsure of what she was asking. "What's your name, sweetie?" I cut in, kneeling down in front of her, offering her my hand.

She grinned at the more common wording and smacked both her hands repeatedly against my palm. "Maggie!" Suddenly she became serious, her cute face scrunched together in a pudgy frown. "But you call me Boots."

I put my hands up while trying to suppress the grin threatening to bubble over. "Yes, princess."

I meant it as a joke but as soon as I said it, a huge grin spread on her face and she jumped up, running back to the cockroach. "Princess! I'm a princess, Temp! Temp, I'm a princess!"

"Be she, princess, be she." The roach muttered to his friends and they all did some weird shutter, surrounding the little girl while clicking excitedly. I stood from my crotch and backed up a few paces in disgust.

"What are they doing?" I whispered to Luxa, unable to take my eyes off the strange...dance?

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her cross her arms over her chest, the smallest smirk on her lips. "Crawlers are easily amused, but they come peacefully, see, they carry torches." She took my elbow and forced me toward the group.

As we neared, Boots came running from her huddled roach friends. She poked me in the stomach. "You look like my brother, I never met him though."

I laughed at the ridiculous statement, leaning down again to be at her level again, trying to ignore the giant creepy cockroaches five feet away from me. "Oh yeah, why is that?"

Not expecting an answer, she shrugged. "Momma says he ran away, but her favourite picture looks like you, she carries it with her everywhere. His name was Gregor. I also have a big sister named Elizabeth, but I call her Lizzie, she very smart and pretty." She rambled a few more sentences but I could focus on her bubbly words.

I felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs and I was unable to do anything other than stare at the young girl. The more I looked at her the more she resembled my mother, right down to her curly brown hair. "Boots, what's your real name?"

My silence had greatly interested her and my sudden question whipped her head back to me. "Margaret Jane. I was named after-."

"Grandma Maggie." I whispered, wrapping my arms around the little girl, tucking my chin over her shoulder and closing my eyes. "Boots, my name is Gregor, I'm your big brother."

Her grin was everything I could hope for. "Big brother!" She returned my hug with gusto and I found myself laughing along with her. "Temp! Temp! Look it, my brother!"

I sat on my knees with my hands out where she had just ran away from, in a daze. Luxa came by and pulled me to my feet. The fast movement and the dizziness of the whole events bubbled over and I couldn't stop myself from grabbing her shoulders. I must have looked like I was going to puke, I also felt like it, because Luxa showed concern as she took ahold of my ribs to steady me.

"Gregor?" Her voice was far away until I finally found her analytical gaze, the solid purple worked wonders to anchor my rushing brain.

Blinking a few times, I took a calming breath. "She-she's my sister, Luxa. She's my sister."

She kept a neutral expression. "You are sure about that?" I had barely nodded when suddenly my support system was gone and I stumbled. I was about to quip at her when she addressed the bugs. "What take you for the Overlander?"

This seemed to get the lead roach's attention and he scurried out of the pack to speak to Luxa. "Give you four baskets, give you?"

"We will give two grain baskets." Luxa's face turned stern but she loosened the grip on her arms to give a slightly more open stance like she was making a real effort to be friendly. Well friendly seemed like a stretch for Luxa, maybe less agitated was a better description.

The cockroach got comfortable, sitting back on its haunches and casually cleaning its antennae. "Rats give many fish."

Luxa shrugged dismissively. "So take her to the Rats, it will give you no time."

Roach King took a few moments to consider this and I finally realized what was going on. "You're bartering for my sister?" I whisper yelled at her over her shoulder.

"Give you three baskets, give you?" It, was it a he?, asked.

Luxa sighed, rubbing her brow in frustration. "We will give three baskets, and one for thanks." She sent me a characteristically agitated glare and turned towards Aurora. "Get the child."

I rolled my eyes at her and held my hand out to the girl who had come to say goodbye to Temp. "Bye bye bug! See you soon!" She waved a chubby hand at the cockroaches and took mine with the other.

"Have you ever rode a bat, Boots?" I asked her, swinging our hands dramatically to get her to giggle.

Her face lit up and she almost jumped out of my grip at the sight of Aurora. "Pretty bat! Sparkly gold bat! Hi bat!"

"Hello, young Overlander." Aurora purred, effectively blowing the little girl's mind.

I laughed and picked her up, handing her to Luxa so I could climb onto the bat's back myself, I still hadn't quite mastered the skill yet and it took all my focus not to hurt Aurora. On the ride to the palace was difficult keeping Boots from falling thousands of feet to her death.

When we landed, a girl older than me probably twenty or twenty two, greeted us with open arms. "Greeting Overlanders, I am called Dulcet, may I bathe the baby?"

"I'm no baby! I'm a big girl!" Boots protested from my arms as I slid down Aurora's back and to the floor.

Dulcet gave a genuine smile which was a nice change from Luxa's constant scowl. "Of course you are, little one!" She turned her grin on me, holding her hand out gently but I hesitated.

I realized I was avoiding the inevitable and forced myself to set the girl down, allowing her to run to the translucent skinned, violet eyed babysitter. "Bath time little girl, see you soon."

"Bye bye!" She called, waving a cute chubby hand at me over her shoulder.

Swallowing hard, I turned to face Luxa who had an unreadable gaze. "You have much explaining to do. Come, I will show you to my room."

In my head, I imagined the day I heard those words coming from a girl being a lot less intimidating.

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 **Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, and reviews; I appreciate it all! Like always, feel free to leave a comment or feedback in the reviews, I love to read them!**

 **So just so everyone knows, I'm a college athlete, I play softball and even though we're out of season, I'm hella busy. I try to write whenever I can manage but I love this story a lot so trust me I'll get it in!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	4. Chapter 4

I wasn't sure for how long or how many corridors Luxa had led us down before the hallway became a dead end with a thick, purple curtain flanked by two armed guards. Luxa slipped through them easily but I couldn't help but feel trapped. "So this is...your room? It's bigger than my old house."

"It is the royal quarters." She crossed her arms, keeping her back to me as she scrutinized the room. It was huge, the central atrium was filled with couches all facing each other in a square with more lavious purple pillows, blankets, and other stuff lined with fancy tassels. "That is my room, Henry sleeps there from time to time, and my parents...that was their room."

I swallowed, directing my eyes to the floor and shoved my hands in my pockets, gaining a sense of incoming dread. I hadn't met her parents yet, they didn't come to dinner, and Luxa referred to herself as Queen which was my biggest hint, but it was still hard for me to imagine that anyone has suffered through losing both parents. Living through the loss of one was the worst pain I've ever been through, I couldn't bare it if I didn't know if my mom was still alive.

After several moments I could feel her eyes on me. "Please stop looking at me like that." I sat awkwardly on the couch, rubbing my hands over my face.

"You have much to explain. You told me you had no family, yet one walked right into our arena." Her voice was harsh behind me.

I sighed, standing abruptly when I felt too boxed in and it became hard to breathe. "There's so much to this story, is there a place we can talk that's more…" I glanced around at the open area, knowing the guards stood on the other side of the curtain. "Private?"

Before she could answer the heavy curtain moved aside and Dulcet entered with Boots in one hand, watching with a gentle smile as the girl babbled about a story. I met Luxa's gaze and with one last glare she turned to the two with a slightly less agitated expression. "Thank you, Dulcet."

A deep breath and I copied her, walking up to my sister. "Did you have a good bath, little girl?" I wrapped her up, spinning her around and revealing in her carefree giggles in my ear.

"Ye-es!" She cheered, pressing her hands to my cheeks only to yawn in my face.

I laughed honestly for what felt like the first time in forever. "Alright silly girl, let's get you to bed." I looked to Luxa for direction as Boots yawned again, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Pick any room." She said shortly, sitting on the couch next to where Dulcet stood, smiling at me.

Nodding, I turned to the first room on the left, moving the curtain with my free hand as Boots became like dead weight in my other. "Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story? Have you heard the one about Red Riding Hood?" She giggled lucidly.

The curtain separating the room from the atrium was the same purple color as the first one but not nearly as heavy, so when Dulcet began talking, I could hear her just fine. "May I speak, my queen?" I nearly laughed at thinking of the older girl needing permission to talk from a seventeen year old.

"You know you never need my permission, Dulcet." She responded, her voice sounded heavy like she was slumped over, no longer angry but weighed down and much more quiet than Dulcet.

Moments passed and I began Boots's story while tucking her into the blue sheets that were softer than any fabric I've ever experienced, which I guess wasn't saying much. "You cannot allow the past to prevent you from having a future."

"I do not understand." Luxa must have muttered because it was barely loud enough for me to hear through the drapery.

A slight laugh came from the other girl as I wrapped up Red Riding Hood to the barely awake eight year old snuggled in the covers. "Gregor is quite attractive." At that I stood, bedtime story forgotten, putting my ear to the doorway as the girls talked. Luxa didn't seem to have a response or at least not a verbal one so Dulcet continued. "Consider what I have said, Luxa, I only wish you to be happy."

Shuffling and silence forced me to return to the chair I had pulled up to the bedside. I wasn't sure what Luxa was doing but Boots had started to wake again in my silence. I ran a hand over her soft cheek, a song came to me that our mother used to sing to Lizzie and I. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, brother's gonna to buy you a mocking bird. And if that mockingbird don't sing, brother's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

"And if that diamond ring turns brass, brother's gonna buy you a looking glass. And if that looking grass gets broke, brother's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat won't pull, brother's gonna buy you a cart and bull." I swallowed, looking over Boots's sleeping form, caressing her arm under the blanket. As a child I never realized how ridiculous the song actually was but I finished it anyway. "And if that cart and bull turn over, brother's gonna buy you a dog named Rover. And if that dog named Rover won't bark, brother's gonna buy you a horse and cart. And if that horse and cart fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little girl in town."

When I finished it was clear that she was finally asleep and I smiled, leaning back into the chair. On a feeling I glanced to the door where Luxa was leaning against the stone archway. A moment passed where she stared at me with a neutral expression before a simple nod directed outside. I stood from the chair slowly and as quietly as I could, silently following.

Luxa said nothing as we exited the room and traveled through a maze of hallways until we arrived at the only familiar thing I remember, High Hall. Aurora flew in like she had been summoned and Luxa slipped onto her back without missing a beat. I sighed and followed, climbing behind her as we took off, flying in the direction of the city's boundary.

I said nothing as we flew, adjusting my hold on her waist to be more comfortable. "You are very good with her." She said evenly, not flinching from her front facing gaze but straightened her posture as I tightened my arms around her middle.

"I remember taking care of my other sister when she was younger." I shook my head as memories of singing Lizzy to sleep. "I guess it's like riding a bike."

"I do not understand."

"It's a saying in the Overland. Never mind, where are we going?"

Luxa pointed in the direction we were headed. "A cave." I rolled my eyes and she continued like she could feel it. "Henry discovered it many years ago, only he and I know of it."

"Well I did ask for private." I muttered, sliding off Aurora's back once she landed. The area was bleak and dark, basically just a large open space with a few unlit torches at eye level on the wall. Luxa made quick work in lighting them to give the room a low, orange glow. I sighed and leaned against the wall, siding down to my butt.

She came to sit next to me and I was very aware of her stare boring into my head. "I didn't lie to you about my family." I finally breathed, still looking forward. "I haven't had one for nine years, that didn't mean to imply they were dead."

Luxa was silent for a while and only when I turned my head to her, did she speak. "At the age of nine, my mother and father were killed in cold blood. It was in their deaths I turned to Aurora, I did not feel safe on the ground in my own world; her patience and love made me whole again, or as much as I could be."

Her violet eyes shined with an emotion I hadn't seen from her before while her face remained neutral. After the confession, she continued to stare at me: a story for a story. "I was nine when my dad disappeared without a trace. The police looked as much as they could but there was nothing to go on, everyone around us said he probably ran away with a woman, but my mom and I couldn't-wouldn't believe that. Then my mom found out she was pregnant.

"My mom couldn't stand being in New York, everything reminded her of my dad, so we moved to our family farm. Every night, I heard her on the phone talking about how much a baby would cost: diapers, clothes, food, we had some of it from Lizzie but it would be impossible without someone working during her maternity leave."

I shook my head, unable to meet her eyes before I was done. "One of the police officers in New York told me that I had to be the man of the house now, and it was my job to take care of my mom, sister, and now this new baby. The only way I saw that I could do that was to leave. If I wasn't there, that was one less mouth to feed, clothe, pay for, and she could focus on the baby and Lizzie like they deserve.

"I planned for months: collected granola bars, fruit snacks, and saved all my quarters." I laughed dryly at the memory of nine year old me saving the change from lunch money and pennies from the couch. "When I was finally ready, I said goodnight to my sister but when I went to my grandma, my mom was in there telling her she was going to name the baby after her; Margaret Jane. That's now I knew Boots was my sister, there's no way that was possible without being her. Anyway, I wrote a note that night explaining to my mom that I didn't want her looking for me, to focus on the girls and grandma because they deserve the best life."

Luxa let me take the pause, she really was an amazing listener: calm, neutral, un-judging. "I took a bus as far away as I could until my money ran out, then I walked, but when my snacks ran out I had no idea where to find food. It had been at least three days since the last time I ate when this old hobo took pity on me. He took me to a dumpster and threw me in, you never know how desperate you are until you eat week old noodles in mystery sauce from a plastic bag."

"What is it like?" I met her gaze at the question. "Living without a home?"

I shrugged, not sure exactly how to put the last nine years of my life into words. I shifted to face her, crossing my legs. "Oddly freeing. I was able to travel wherever I wanted, no one was there to tell me what I could or couldn't do-"

"Gregor." Her voice was soft but stopped me immediately, I wasn't so used to her calling me by my first name. "I am not trying to _become_ homeless."

"Oh, well," I scratched my head, realizing I was kind of up playing it. "It's dangerous, lonely. I had a long time to think about my family, there were tons of times I thought about going back but...I knew the best way I could help them was to stay away. That was the hardest part."

I lowered my gaze to the rough, black stone floor as harsh memories began to creep into my mind that I had done my best to forget. "You know as well as I do that those are fragile years, kids need their parents and the last place I imagined myself at twelve years old is cold, hungry, and alone in an ally..."

By the end of my sentence, my voice was quivering, but I didn't need to finish as a pair of lips slowly came to touch mine. Luxa gently tilted our heads, one hand rested on my knee and the other ghosting over my cheek. I barely had time to respond when the flutter of giant wings caused Luxa to abruptly pull away and stand, walking to meet Aurora as she hovered before landing. "Henry approaches."

She nodded and I managed to stand as Henry's large black bat burst through the entrance with his normal gusto. "I believed you to be here, Vikus requests you return, he has informed me that we will all be needing sleep for the morrow's day."

It was weird to hear him not joking or messing around but Luxa seemed to accept it so my only choice was to follow along. She didn't make any attempt to hold a conversation but also didn't cut my arm off when I wrapped them around her waist. We flew straight through the corridors to the royal room. "You may sleep in any room you wish." She said shortly, walking into the room she pointed out as hers earlier.

I sighed, not realizing just how tired I was and rubbed my eyes. I looked to the empty room next to Boots's but decided against it, pushing the purple curtain to hers aside. I was happy to see she was still asleep, rolled over in the large bed and drooling slightly. The sight brought a goofy smile to my face.

The chair was my only option but I didn't mind it, after so long on the street I learned not to be picky of my sleeping arrangements. The plush cushions were actually more comfortable than ninety percent of what I was use to. As I dozed off, I could still feel the tingle of where Luxa's lips touched mine.

I actually slept through the night, if it even was night since there was no sun to compare to here, which I hadn't done in nearly three years. The curtain shifted and I sprung awake, not realizing I had managed to stand until I was looking at the top of Luxa's head. Was I always that much taller than her?

Embarrassed, I relaxed from the slightly stiff defensive stance and rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh, hi. Sorry, I'm a bit of a light sleeper. Um, is it morning?"

Luxa nodded, trying to suppress the small smirk at the corners of her lips. "I summoned Dulcet to care for Boots and bathe her, the room next to this is stocked with clothes for you. I had anticipated you would sleep in a bed, not a...chair."

I laughed, a bed seemed so luxurious I hadn't even bothered with it. "I can't even remember the last time I slept in a real bed." Glancing at Luxa I realized how sad of a exclamation that was. "Um, well you know it probably only been a few years um, I'll go get...dressed."

Squeezing past her felt awkward and I slipped into the room immediately to the left. I took a breath in attempt to calm down, making the deduction that the clothes Luxa mentioned would be in the stone dresser and walked to it, pulling on the top drawer. Inside was a range of earth toned boxers so I grabbed one and set it on top, pulling at the next one down.

I wasn't much for fashion but from what the other Underlanders were wearing, it was apparently important to match colors so I picked mellow green shirt and shorts. "Overlander?" Dulcet's voice called from the other side of my curtain. I moved it aside to see her with a tired Boots in one hand, folded clothes nestled in her other. "I am taking Boots to wash, would you like to accompany us and take one as well?"

I sent her a thankful grin and nodded, ducking into the room to grab the clothes I had picked out. "Absolutely." We started walking when Luxa finally emerged from Boots's room, or maybe she had always been standing there, I wasn't paying attention. "But please, my friends call me Gregor, I like to think of you as my friend."

Dulcet stifled a giggle and her neck and cheeks flared with red, and man when these people blushed they weren't messing around, her translucent skin hid nothing and I suddenly became extremely grateful for my own farm tested tan. I sent her my best charming smile. "Thank you Over-Gregor." She corrected herself, laying a hand on my bicep.

Suddenly I remembered we had left Luxa standing near the bedrooms. I turned, walking backwards as I spoke. "We'll meet you at breakfast then, alright?" She gave a stiff nod, and if it was possible for someone to literally _steam_ I swear Luxa was practically fuming. I wrote it off, if she wanted to mess with my emotions then two could play at that game. I sent her a smile but if I was hoping for a smooth exit it was ruined by the small step before the main door caused me to stumble.

I caught myself quickly before I could fall, managing to hold onto my clothes. Dulcet reached out with a poorly restrained laugh and failed completely in hiding her smile while Boots outwardly laughed, jumping up and down, swinging her and Dulcet's hands where they were connected. "Silly Gregor!"

I immediately laughed at myself, meeting the nanny's supportive hand as she led me out of the dangerous room. As we walked, the two of us made fun of my stumble and even Boots jumped in with her own innocently harsh critic of my form. I was glad I had Dulcet to distract me from the confusion Luxa left me with after our meeting, the events played over and over in my head last night which was as close to dreaming as I got these days. "I will take Boots here, you will be alright if I allow you to bathe by yourself, yes?"

We laughed and I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Dulcet, I think I can manage to bathe myself without falling out of the tub. Bye Boots, see you in a minute, get nice and clean alright?"

"Ok big brother!" She waved, following Dulcet into the right doorway. It was pretty obvious that left was the boy's side, just like the locker rooms in my old school.

I stripped next to the rows of cubicles and laid out my new clothes with a clean towel. This time I made sure to grab an extra towel and set it next to the stone basin before climbing in. I quickly washed my hair so I could sit under the running water, it was like a warm massage on my sore neck after sitting in the chair all night. Sure I've slept in more awkward arrangements, but this time I could help my abused muscles and it felt amazing.

Not sure how long I had been in the water, I decided to hop out since I wasn't sure how long it would take for the practiced nanny to clean the eight year old. Once I was out of the tub, I wrapped the towel around my waist and padded across the cold stone to my clothes. I was running the second silky cloth through my long hair, I absent-mindedly made a note to ask where I could get it cut, when a voice ran through the room. "Overlander?"

I rolled my eyes at the title but moved from the little out cove still drying the back of my hair to find Henry looking around, presumably for me. "Henry, what's up?" I asked, not expecting him to be the one popping in.

He opened his mouth but hesitated, I wasn't sure if he was confused by my wording or too distracted by sizing me up. His eyes narrowed at my chest and I saw the subtle puff in his own. Internally I was cracking up, he was jealous of my physic. Sure I was in shape thanks to my daily exercise and the extreme lack of junk food in my diet, but mostly because on bad weeks, I could go up to three days without eating, which did wonders to eliminate excess fat; not that I recommend that. "Luxa sent me to check on your progress."

"Uh yeah, I'm almost ready, sorry. I didn't realize I had been down here so long." I moved back to my clothes and slipped the boxers on, tossing the towels on the bench. I pulled the shorts on just as footsteps came up behind me.

Henry stood about five feet away with his hands behind his back, staring at me analytically. "You have many marks of battle, were you a warrior in the Overland?"

I straightened, nudging my arms into the sleeves of the short sleeve shirt, glancing down at my chest. He was referring to my scars. "No," I mumbled, pulling the cloth over my head and yanked at the hem to cover the marks. "Just unlucky."

As I exited the bathroom, Dulcet came out of the neighboring one with Boots in tow. The tight feeling in my chest melted when I saw her little smile. "Did you clean behind your ears, little girl?"

"Ye-es! Squeaky clean!" She stated proudly, her hands on her hips with a stern nod.

I laughed, rushing to scoop her up and throwing her over my shoulder. "Oh yeah? I'll be the judge of that!"

She giggled, erupting in laughter when I blew raspberries into her stomach. "Silly brother, that's not my ears!"

"Oh, you're right!" I shifted her into my arms and she wrapped her legs around my side. Dulcet stood behind me, her arms loosely crossed as she looked on in approval. Like she knew we were late, she gently directed me down the hallway while I continued to play with my little sister. "Where are those ears, are these it?"

Boots jokingly swatted my hand from her nose but still snorting with bubbly laughter. "No, big brother, that's my _nose_. _These_ are my ears!" She pulled on the cartilage and puffed her cheeks like a monkey.

"Like this?" I wrapped her arms around my neck and let go of her back, extremely relieved when she koala-ed to my side. With free hands I copied her face with practiced expertise. When I was ten, I briefly lived next to a clothing store and the manager liked me, so she would let me hang out in the store during the winter. To entertain myself, I spent a long time sitting in front of the floor length mirrors making faces.

I took hold of her back and her muscles relaxed as she exploded with laughter. Dulcet tugged my sleeve to direct me to the right turn. "I'm glad I have you with me, I would probably get lost in a second walking around by myself."

She chuckled lightly. "I am not perfect," She entered a doorway and I realized we had reached High Hall. "Even the best servants take a wrong turn now and again."

I laughed with her as Henry entered behind us. "That makes me feel infinitely better, thank you."

Dulcet gave a short bow to Henry and Luxa, standing off to the side quietly. I wanted to say something but I had a feeling it wasn't my place. "Vikus will be here shortly." She told us. I was curious to how she knew that after being in the bathroom with Boots the whole time but didn't question her.

The awkward silence was broken quickly when the elderly man did indeed cross the threshold with his wife. He gestured to the table and everyone all took a seat while I helped Boots into a higher chair suited for her age and started cutting up her food, following her babble about her bath.

"So what do you guys do during the day down here?" I asked after swallowing a gulp of water. The food here was incredible and it was all I could do to avoid shoveling it all into my mouth at once.

Vikus chuckled, taking a more manageable sip from his goblet. "Typically Luxa will have preparatory lessons for her coming coronation, Henry I believe has spent quite the time in the arena, but this day is important for you and the baby."

Luxa poked her food a little harder than necessary, clanging the fork against the plate. She looked at her grandfather with that familiar agitated expression. "You really think it is he?"

It had sounded like they had this conversation before as Vikus frowned and suddenly became solemn. "We must tell him, Luxa. He must know what he faces." He rose from the table, straightening his robe. "Come."

I swallowed at his heavy tone and immediately obeyed, standing quicker than I meant to, almost knocking my chair over. I didn't fail to see the snark on Henry's face at my reaction. A breath calmed me down and I picked Boots up out of her chair, taking her little hand in mine. I reached the door the same time as Luxa did and stepped back, my mind starting to clear despite the fog of worry. "After you." I offered her with my free hand, noticing that I had subconsciously bent just a little in what could be considered a bow.

She glanced sideways at me and continued to follow the old man who had made it to the other end of the hall already. "He's a sprite of a guy isn't he?" I joked to her as we had to move to catch up. I swear I caught the half grin on her lips before we turned the corner and it disappeared.

I tried not to let her silence get to me and gave her the same, looking around as we walked. We passed dozens of Underlanders that watched as we strolled by, erupting in hushed conversations as soon as we were out of earshot. Eventually we came to a wood door where Vikus waited patiently for us. He produced a key and opened it, I realized it was the first wooden thing I'd seen up to this point but also the only doorway that wasn't totally open. It was clear that this wasn't meant to be open to the general public, like a door that would have an 'employees only' plague. I had broken into plenty of those in my time.

Luxa took a torch and walked in behind him. When I entered, it wasn't more than any empty stone, square room except for the thousands of tiny words on every surface of the walls including the ceiling and floor. It felt almost wrong to be walking over the obviously painstakingly etched sentences.

"A-B-C-D-E-F-G." Boots sung the alphabet, running around to look at all the words she could. I allowed her to since Vikus had shut the door behind us and tried not to laugh when the one poem that caught her attention was the one in the corner. She decided the easiest way to read it was bent over with her hands on the top of the poem like a bridge. I chuckled and turned back to Vikus as he started talking.

"These are the prophecies of Bartholomew of Sandwich." Vikus told me and I bit my lip to keep the childish laugh from ruining the adoring look the old man had for the man. "Once we sealed the gates to the Overland, he devoted the rest of his life to recording them."

 _I bet, it would take a lifetime to chisel this all out._ I thought, imagining a crazy guy with purple eyes, santa clause beard, and a cane shuffling around with a pick and hammer; muttering about giant bugs. "Prophecies?" I asked, knowing full well what they were: predictions of the future. My grandma had a book about them in different religions.

"Sandwich was a visionary," He told me, pulling us to an oil lamp that was hung next to a part of the wall. It was kinda creepy that it was already there and I wondered if they kept it going 24/7.

"Has he gotten anything right so far?" I asked in a low voice, not really expecting an answer.

Luxa stood next to me, the torch flickering light over her face as she stared hard at the wall, her face sad. "He foretold my parents' end." She ran her fingers over the wall almost in a trance and I felt like if there was a prophecy written on the wall about her parents' deaths, she probably spent a long time in here looking at it. "There was no mystery in that."

"Some we have not yet unraveled." Vikus spoke up, directing from Luxa's sorrow while setting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "That was clear as water, but there is one that hangs most heavily over our heads. It is called 'The Prophecy of Gray'. We know not whether it be fair or foul but we do know it was the most sacred and maddening of Sandwich's visions. He could never see the outcome, though it came to him many times."

For nearly the fifth time in the last five minutes I felt awful, making a note to talk about the prophecies with more respect. "Will you read?" Vikus asked, gesturing to the panel. I took a breath and did a quick once over, it was written as many of the other in poem form with four parts. The wording was odd in some places but I read what was written.

 _Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread.  
_ _The hunters are hunted, white water runs red.  
_ _The gnawers will strike to extinguish the rest.  
_ _The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest._

 _An Overland warrior, a son of the sun,  
_ _May bring us back light, he may bring us back none.  
_ _But gather your neighbors and follow his call,  
_ _Or the rats will surely devour us all._

 _Two over, two under, of royal descent.  
_ _Two flyers, two crawlers, two spinners assent.  
_ _One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead.  
_ _And eight will be left when we count up the dead._

 _The last who will die must decide where he stands.  
_ _The fate of the eight is contained in his hands.  
_ _So bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps,  
_ _As life may be death and death life again reaps._

By the end I was scratching my head and accidentally blurted, "What does that mean?"

Vikus shook his head solemnly. "No one knows for certain. It tells of a dark time when the future of our people is undecided. It calls for a journey, not just of humans but many creatures, which may lead to salvation or ruin. The journey will be led by an Overlander."

"Yeah," I agreed, crossing my arms and staring at the stanza. "A warrior, and I'll take a wild guess that you think that's me."

Luxa and Vikus shared a look. "In my lifetime there have only been a handful of Overlanders that survive the fall, and it has been unheard of for a falling to coincide with another, to have two Overlanders in Regalia at once. It would be too great of a coincidence for this not to be the beginning of the prophecy."

I nodded slowly, rereading the depressions again. "I'm in. If I am the warrior, I'll do my best to bring back the light. Whatever that means." Vikus was so elated he grasped my forearm in one of those old fashioned handshakes in the movies, grinning to his ears. I wasn't some knight in shining armor, and I certainly couldn't fight like one, but if you asked the elderly man I might as well have been.

Before I left to live on my own, I would have denied it immediately; I hated fighting when I was younger. My dad tried to teach me basic defense in case a bully ever tried to rough me up, but I never paid it much attention. Once I was alone, I had to fend for myself and I learned really quick how the real world worked, I couldn't imagine how much more that applied down here.

"There is one last thing I wish to show you, Gregor." Vikus dug into his pocket and pulled out a metal ring that had several keys dangling from it. The armaturely braided loop of red, black, and blue leather made the breath in my lungs catch and I swear my heart stopped. I made that when I was at a summer camp. I choose to make it out of the three things we could make in crafts; a bracelet, bookmark, or key chain.

My father never went anywhere without it.

I felt my heartbeat in my ears and prickers of tears threatened at the corners of my eyes. I reached out, cradling the old, worn key chain in my hands. "Where did you get that?"

"Other Overlanders have fallen before you." Vikus said gently with a kind gaze. "Some years ago we rescued one very like you in face and features. I cannot recall the exact date-"

Immediately I answered, "Nine years, seven months, and thirteen days ago." The number was like a digital clock in my mind that ran 24/7. Emotions ran over me but mostly happiness as I ran my fingers over the leather braid and clip where he would attach it to his belt loop every morning before leaving the house.

More memories like it rushed into my head from some recess they had been forced away in. My dad jingling them in front of Lizzie when she was a baby, using the key to pry open a Tupperware lid of potato salad. I probably could have gone on for a while in my head until reality hit me in the chest.

Luxa's eyes widened. "Your father? Vikus you think-"

"I do not know, but the signs are strong." He cut her off with a somber expression. Luxa's gaze landed on me with a strange, quizzical tone. I hoped I didn't have fish stuck in my teeth. "Your father was desperate to return home, but with difficulty, we persuaded him to stay many weeks. He was a man of science, was he not?"

I nodded weakly. "He taught science at school."

A small smile broke on his lips only to disappear. "The strain proved too great and one night he slipped away. The rats reached him before we did."

I looked at the floor, a tear slipped from my eye and I rubbed at the other quickly. "He's dead then."

A warm hand landed on my shoulder and I met his comforting gaze. "We assumed this as well, but then came a rumor the rats kept him living. Our spies confirm this regularly."

"He's alive." Joy ran through my veins and I felt like I was on a roller coaster. "Why? Why didn't they just kill him?"

"We know not, but I have my suspicions. In our conversations it was clear he understood the works of nature; of trapping lightning, fire, of powders that explode." I almost laughed, I couldn't imagine the last time these people actually _saw_ lightning; it was probably just a myth to them.

"Why would the rats want him? To make a bomb or something? My dad would never do that."

Vikus nodded with concern. "I do not discredit you, however, it is hard to imagine what any of us would do in the caves of the rats. To keep sanity must be a struggle, to keep honor a Herculean feat." He paused. "I am not judging your father, only curious to explain why he survives so long."

"The rats fight well in close range, and we have the ability to attack from afar so they have no recourse but to run. They wish a way to kill us at a distance." Luxa looked over her hands sadly. "Be glad, Overlander, if they believe your father can be useful. It is all that will give him time."

"Luxa speaks true." He paused like he wanted to say more but took a breath. "The council will make the final decision of the prophecy. They are meeting now, shall we go?" I just barely had enough time to grab Boots from the corner when Vikus was shuffling us out and down a million more hallways and staircases. When we arrived, a guard stood next to the doorway, pushing the curtain out of the way for us (or maybe just Luxa, but whatever) and sent me an encouraging thumbs up.

"Thank you, Mareth." Vikus acknowledged him and I muttered a quick ' _thanks_ ' which sounded pathetic in comparison.

In the middle of the room, a round table held a dozen or so older Underlanders including Solovet who also sent me a smile. Luxa took her place while Vikus introduced them, all with funky names which I immediately forgot. Not missing a beat, they started asking questions.

They covered all kinds of topics from when I was born to if I knew how to swim, however, when it came to what I did in the Overland, I hesitated. "Well, I'm homeless and I haven't seen my family since Boots was born. I usually just move from city to city during the day."

From that point the council spoke among themselves. I hoped the fact my favorite color was green really helped in their negotiations. Among their conversations I heard lines of the prophecy like 'a son of the sun' and 'white water runs red'. Finally Vikus hit the table to get their attention. "Members of the council, we must decide. Here sits Gregor the Overlander, who counts him the warrior of 'The Prophecy of Gray'?"

Ten of twelve raised their hands but Luxa kept hers on the table, slouched somewhat in her chair. Whether she agreed with them or not, it looked like she couldn't vote anyway. "We believe you to be the warrior, if you call us to rescue your father, then we will answer."

I took a breath, swallowing any unsureness and looked Vikus in the eye. "Let's do it."

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 **Thank you for everyone that reviews, shout out to Toast Ninja for being an awesome reader :)**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	5. Chapter 5

**5,000 words...wow. I love long chapters, don't you?  
**

 **I don't own the Underland Chronicles or the characters, just the plot! (kinda)**

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The council nodded happily at my acceptance of the role but suddenly more muttering spread through the table. I sighed and almost hung my head, there was always a 'but' with adults. "What? What is it?"

"The prophecy mentions twelve beings." Solovet stood with her hands crossed behind her. "Only two are described as Overlanders, your father and yourself fill that number," She glanced at Boots where she was playing with a doll Vikus had given her as the meeting started.

I caught on and shook my head. "No, she has to come-"

"The prophecy also speaks of one lost. That one may be your father, in which Boots is indeed the second Overlander." Vikus reasoned before I could blow up. "The journey will be very taxing, and the prophecy warns that four will lose life. It may be wise to leave Boots here."

My head rushed and I had to lean heavily against the table as the elderly members murmured their agreement. I couldn't muster the thought of leaving her in Regalia. It was my job to protect her, I already left her once, but leaving her now just didn't have the same outlook.

Suddenly words from my limited childhood rang through my thoughts. _Stay together!_ My mom always told me that when Lizzie and I would leave the house in Virginia or New York. Until then I had my eyes on the table, but when I looked up, I met Luxa's gaze; she was studying me silently as the chatter continued. "What would you do, if it was your sister?"

Everyone immediately hushed, several of the men narrowed their eyes like they didn't even want to hear what she would say. "I do not have a sister, Overlander." A short buzz of approval came from the same members that didn't go unnoticed by the princess. She frowned at their ratification and I saw the subtle clench of her fists.

"If I did, and I were you." Luxa looked me straight in the eye like she was staring into my heart and I felt her passion. "I would never take my eyes off of her."

I shook my head, my mind made up. Almost all the elderly council members stood to protest in loud voices so I made mine louder. "I am the Warrior." I stood straight after the boom of my voice echoed through the room, shutting everyone up. Making a point to glare at each of them, I continued with the same tone. "I call for my sister to be on this quest; if she doesn't go, I don't go!"

They just began to find their voices again when a bat crash landed on the table. From its back a ghostly pale woman, like dramatically so even for Underlander standards, with a huge gash on her chest. She slumped from her bond trying to apply pressure and reduce the loss of blood while the bat's wing was bent and obviously broken. "Anchel and Daphne are dead. King Gorger has launched his armies, they come for us." She gasped, collapsing into Vikus's arms.

"Sound the alarm!" He yelled and suddenly the place went to hell. The old man stood in High Hall giving commands as bats swooped in, not even landing before taking off again. I realized quickly that whatever had happened to the woman and the other people had been a declaration of war.

I walked out to see the city in a similar emergency mode but I couldn't stay out on the stone slab very long, the height made me nauseous and I had to stumble back into the room when Vikus suddenly appeared. He placed a hand on my arm with a worried, tired, but still calm expression that made me feel a little more stable. "Gregor the Overlander, it is late, you must rest for the events of tomorrow. There is much to do before we may begin the quest."

Nodding, I numbly followed as he led me back to the royal wing. When I got there, I found Boots already passed out in her bed and silently thanked Dulcet. Boots was rolled over practically against the wall and too exhausted to bother with the chair, I collapsed next to her on the bed.

I don't know when I woke up, but this time it wasn't to Luxa or even Dulcet but by the lack of heat coming from underneath the blankets next to me. Groggily, I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Boots?" Met with silence, I jumped out of the bed in a flash. "Shit." I whispered, not missing a beat, I ran out of the room and past the thick curtain.

"Overlander." A deep male voice caught me, making me skid to a stop which wasn't hard in the tactless bottoms of the sandals I was given. "Is there a problem?"

I sighed a little in relief, if these guys were there the whole time, they should have seen Boots if she left. "Have you seen my sister? She wasn't in bed when I woke up." They exchanged looks and shook their head. "Aren't you guys out here all the time?" Again, they shook their heads no and panic returned to my chest.

I didn't wait for them to ask more questions and took off down the hall, turning right as I remembered that being the direction of the baths. I wasn't exactly trying to get there, but it was my only reference, so that's where I started. At one point I had run out of breath from running so long, so I slowed to catch it while attempting to form a plan. I should have reached the baths by now if I had taken the right directions. I was clearly lost but as I turned in circles, I couldn't tell this hallway from any of the dozens I had already run through. "Boots!" I yelled in frustration but the only thing I heard was the shallow sound water rushing.

It dawned on me that following the noise could help me find the baths and I put my ear to the wall, listening carefully to which direction it was flowing. Once I got my direction I took off, pausing a few times to get my bearings when suddenly the roar grew exponentially. I found myself looking at a scene out an adventure movie with rapids, foaming from their fast pace. It was obvious why there wasn't any guards watching the suspended boats, it was a death wish to take on the river.

My heart stopped when I saw my little sister looking over the edge at something in the water, giggling. "Boots, get away from there!" I called, starting towards her.

At my outburst she looked up at me with a huge grin. "Hi! Hi, Gregor! See, look at the boat! It's floating like a fishy!"

"Yeah, little girl, that's what boats do. Get away from the edge." I had gotten about halfway to her when her sandal slipped and she was sent off the side of the platform. "No!" I screamed, sprinting the rest of the distance. "Boots!"

Her giggle made it all the way up to me and I saw her wave from the crazy movement of the boat. I had no hesitation and jumped off feet first, landing on the boat and scooping her up. "Thank God you're ok." She hugged my neck whether she knew why or not. I was just loosening my grip on her when the boat lurched, snapping the rope that held it in place.

"Oh no." I muttered, holding her in place as we rushed down the wild rapids. The high platform started to disappear and just we rounded a corner, I saw Underlanders rush up to the dock. "Help!" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping they heard me. When I could no longer see them, I pulled Boots close as she started to whip around from the force of the water on our boat.

"Boat ride!" She giggled, clapping and looking left to right with wide, excited eyes.

I sighed, picking her up as well as I could without falling overboard with the crazy tilts, sliding her under one of the benches so she was deeper in the boat and could hold onto the seat. "Hold on, baby." I spotted an oar and picked it up, pushing off huge boulders and black rocks that shot up from the water.

Freezing air whipped at my face that I could feel in my bones; it reminded me of when I was stupid enough to spend winter in Vermont with only a sweatshirt and two pairs of jeans. Being so focused on keeping us from dying, I almost missed the voices yelling behind us. "Gregor!"

I could see better when the river turned into a large cavern with crystals lining the walls and ceiling, reflecting back at me from the torched wedged into the holder at the back of the canoe; honestly I was surprised it hadn't been quenched by the crazy waters. Finally, I saw salvation in the form of a skinny strip of beach. I pushed my sore muscles towards it like a bat out of hell-bad pun?-as the rescue group grew closer.

Without warning, the boat slid up on the beach and I was just able to catch myself from smacking face first into the bottom of the vessel. Boots jerked as well but the bench kept her from any injury. I saw her eyes start to water and immediately picked her up, jumping out of the canoe and yanking it ashore. Even if the Underlanders showed up to rescue us, I didn't want them to lose a boat, I had no idea how hard it was to make one of these and it looked pretty complicated with the animal hide stretched over the frame.

The cold air was getting to Boots as she shivered uncontrollably in my arms. "Shh baby, it's ok." I soothed into her curly brown hair, holding her against my chest in hopes that my body heat would help her. I also grabbed the torch from the boat and headed into the tunnel I saw when we landed.

I had just reached the opening of the cave when I turned my head to check if the rescue party had landed on the beach yet, running straight into a fuzzy wall. I fell back several steps and caught myself on the rocks but when I looked up, I wished I had stayed in the boat.

I've seen plenty of rats from New York City and alleyways of other cities, but the animals that stood in front of me were completely terrifying, giant versions of the tiny ones that used snarled at me from a dark corner. These rats were as tall as me at nearly six foot sitting on their back legs and they had muscles that bodybuilders would be jealous of. "Here you are at last." The one in front bared his teeth in an intimidating factor. "By your reek we expected you ages ago, and look Fangor, he has brought the pup."

I held Boots closer as the other rat, Fangor apparently, stuck his nose over the first's shoulder again. "Yes, Shed, she is quite the tidbit. I will allow you the boy if I can have her to myself."

Shed gave a corrupt laugh, looking me over like a disappointing steak. "As tempting at that is, look at him, he is all skin and bone!" My fear subsided for a moment when I suddenly became defensive at the comment.

"He had fish for supper, mushrooms, and grain. You must admit that is a flavorful stuffing!" I was taken back by how they knew that, _I_ barely remembered what I ate five hours ago.

"Yes, but the pup fed on cow and cream." Shed countered and I realized he was smelling the food on us either from our breath or skin, but it was still incredible.

"No one is eating anyone." I interrupted, standing tall and turning Boots towards the wall to shield her, tucking her head into my shoulder so they didn't scare her.

"He speaks!" Shed exclaimed, laughing. My chest deflated at his mocking tone. "Usually we get nothing but shrieks and whimpers, this is quite a treat! Tell us, Overlander, what makes you so brave?"

I set my jaw and stared into the beady, yellow eyes. "I've been through worse, seen scarier." So I may have been embellishing a little because these rats were very high on the creep and fright scales, but they didn't have know that.

Shed, who seemed to be the ringleader of the two of them, narrowed his eyes before bursting out in laughter. "He has quite the sense of humor, doesn't he Fangor?" His voice became serious as he took several steps towards me. If I was alone, I wouldn't have backed down but since I had Boots to worry about, I matched his advanced with an equal amount of paces backwards. "I like him!"

"I like him too!" Shed agreed. "The humans are usually so dreary. I say we keep him, Fangor."

Fangor shook his head, coming to stand next to his friend as we edged back onto the beach. "Oh, Shed, I am too hungry for that much explaining."

"And me, I agree but such a pity to eat a prey so amusing." The rats moved in with more speed and bared teeth. I jabbed at them with the torch I had almost forgotten about, forcing them to stop short. Their pause ended up being the worst thing to do as the first bat swooped in silently, knocking Fangor on his butt and plowing into Shed.

They landed in a pile of growling fur. I turned to see Henry, Mareth, and a female guard I remember seeing but couldn't think of her name, I don't think she ever mentioned it; usually the Underlanders barely spoke without being addressed. They flew in a zigzag pattern on their bats, narrowly dodging the rat's' claws in the small area but the rats didn't make it easier by jumping nearly ten feet into the air.

With swords, they dove in to fight the rats tooth and claw, drawing blood but I wasn't sure whose. "Flee, Overlander!" Henry yelled.

I shook my head immediately. "No!" I held Boots's head against my neck and ran toward the boat. After making sure it was securely on the beach, I set her in, laying her against the bottom and away from the horrible sights of the fight. "Stay here, little girl, don't you move. You hear me?" She nodded with a little whimper. "Don't worry, I'll come get you when it's safe."

"Ok, big brother." She curled into a ball and rolled on her side. I sighed, desperately fighting with my inner defender to not sit in the boat with her, but pushed it away because if I didn't help the Underlanders, it wouldn't matter if I stayed; Fangor and Shed would kill us.

I was left with the dilemma of not having any weapon except the torch which wouldn't do much, so I hooked it back into the holster on the boat, going in with just my fists: my own time tested weapon. I ran up the beach just as Mareth dove toward Shed, the rat caught his bat's wing in his teeth and despite its struggle, he held on.

The woman came from behind to lop off one of his ears making him howl in pain, opening his mouth so Mareth could escape. I jumped in with a roundhouse to Shed's jaw, knocking him off balance and staggering backwards; he managed to find his balance and roared.

"How fly you, Mareth?" Henry yelled, hovering just above me.

"We can hold!" The guard yelled back even though his bat was bleeding bad, Henry gave a short nod, flying down to help me fend off Shed's attacks since I didn't have a sword. I managed to get in a few more punches before catching his neck in a wrestling head lock, opening his chest to the ceiling. Henry tried to go in for the kill but Shed used his larger body to throw me to the ground, landing on my chest with his full body weight. It knocked the wind out of my lungs, and he used my paralysis to spring to his feet, slashing at Henry and keeping him at a manageable distance; the rat didn't seem to see me as too much of a concern since I was unarmed and easily killable.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of gold and immediately felt relief that Luxa had come as reinforcement. I ran toward her where she was flying low to the ground towards us, reaching my hand up as a plan formed in my head. Either she was thinking the same thing or just went along with my crazy idea because Luxa leaned forward to speak to Aurora who grasped my hand in her claws as we met. We flew up a few dozen feet behind Shed, Henry caught on and kept the rat's attention forward to keep him from seeing us too soon.

Luxa dove down and Aurora flung me at the rat's back, crashing into him with a satisfying crunch. Coming in behind me, Luxa sliced at Shed's neck. He seized his struggle as blood spilled from the wound, splashing my arms and a little on my face. "We will hunt you to the last rat." Then he closed his eyes, dead. Not having a moment to reflect on what he had said, I saw the woman fighting Fangor was not doing well. Henry swooped down to assist only to lose his sword, Mareth was struggling to just stay in the air with his injured bat.

Two things happened simultaneously that I struggled to comprehend them at the same time. Glancing back at the boat, I saw Aurora hovering above it. Luxa's figure dropped the short distance and disappeared halfway into the canoe. From it, an even smaller body came up, hooking onto her front. Our eyes met and I gave her a grateful nod. Returning it, Luxa reached her arm up where Aurora grasped it in her claws, taking off almost all the way to the ceiling.

I marveled at the complete trust and confidence as the bat released her arm, darting under her to catch her on her back after barely a ten foot fall; I guess it wasn't too different than what I had just done. Situated, she directed Aurora away from the fight and held Boots like I had with her head away from the fight.

At the same time, the woman made the fatal mistake of looking away from Fangor as she pulled from her dive. The rat jumped at the bat, grabbing at its throat and ripping a chunk away, sending the pair hard to the ground. The woman was dislodged from her bond and hit her head against the cave wall hard, falling limp. The bat wasn't in much better shape, gasping for air as Fangor stood above them, panting hard with blood matting his fur and spilling from his mouth.

Mareth tried to defend her but the rat took hold of his bond's feet, throwing him at the wall the same way. I sprinted to take his place defending the woman, who Mareth had yelled the name Perdita, when a crazed Fangor turned on me. "Now you die!" He screamed and lunged.

I learned from fighting Shed that my movements seemed out of my control as I fought, it was a familiar yet still strange feeling that I had experienced a few times when I was in honest danger on the streets. My fists connected with his nose and jaw, I felt them begin to split from the force but I could barely stop until one of my strikes missed, momentum sending me past the rat.

Fangor took advantage of the gap in my concentration and slashed at me, ripping at my shoulder blade and I screamed out as pain rushed from the spot down my back. I landed on my stomach, turning on my good shoulder as the rat lumbered over me. He lunged at me again but a sword sprouted from his chest and his arms fell limp to his sides. I just had enough time to roll out of the way before his corpse landed right where I had been.

Henry nodded at me with approval and I sent him a grateful one. He leaped off Ares and scooped up Perdita, jumping back on his bond and taking off. "Scorch the land!" He yelled.

Mareth pulled the swords from the rats' bodies and dragged them to the river, it carried them away just as fast as it had pulled the boat. He met his bat which had struggled to pull itself up from the ground. The pair were both beaten up, Mareth with a cut to the forehead and the bat's wing had a painful looking gash.

Ares hooked his claws into the fur of Perdita's bat at the shoulders, quickly making his way back to the palace as fast as he could so they could save its life.

Luxa landed with Aurora and Boots, keeping her face away from the bloody scene. She urged me to get on and I numbly climbed up behind her. She looped around and directed me to grab the torch from the boat which I had somehow managed to lean over and snatch as we passed. "Drop the torch!" Mareth yelled from behind us and I pried my fingers away from the knob, sending it to the beach, lighting the strip of land in a strong blaze.

We broke away from the fire and sped back to the docks. It was then that I noticed that Boots had been crying, it broke my heart that I didn't see it before but scooted forward to get closer to her. "Hey, little girl," I whispered so I didn't startle her. "It's me, brother's here, it's ok."

"I'm sorry." She muttered into Luxa's neck, she had latched onto the princess in a similar fashion I had held her earlier; her legs wrapped tight around her waist, arms over her shoulders, and face hidden behind the silver pony tail. It was a new hairdo for Luxa, similar to the braid I had first seen her in but with loose hair like when she had it down at dinner.

I leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "It's ok baby, what are you sorry for?"

"I left the boat." She just barely poked her eyes out like she was still scared I would yell at her.

Forcing myself not to laugh at her expense, I went for a caring smile. "It's ok little girl, I'm not mad. If I'm not there, it's ok to go with Luxa, we can trust her."

Boots nodded, laying her chin on Luxa's shoulder and playing with the princess's hair as we flew. I took a breath as she relaxed, glad that it didn't seem she had seen anything too frightening. I wish I could have seen Luxa's reaction but she sat stoic with the little girl in her lap like it was a totally normal thing. I thought back to the council meeting when she was so emotional about me taking care of Boots, I figured she was so comfortable now because having a sibling was something she had always dreamed of. It made my heart ache that she would never get to experience that love, Suddenly, the thoughts of Lizzie as a baby, toddler, and at elementary age rushed through my mind.

I was so engulfed in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed we had reached the palace. We flew right into High Hall where a team of medics helped Henry and Mareth with Perdita. I think I saw Vikus as well, but Luxa made the decision to continue flying. I was grateful because I imagined as soon as I dismounted Aurora, I wasn't going to up for walking all the way to the royal rooms.

We made it and Luxa landed close to the main room. Boots had fallen asleep in her arms so I followed her into the bedroom, pulling the covers back while she laid the little girl in the bed, detaching her limbs to allow her to lay comfortably. The both of us stood by the bedside for a few minutes just watching until Luxa gently nudged my elbow towards the exit.

"You were injured." She said lowly, keeping her voice down as we walked away from Boots's room. "Come, we need to clean the wound."

I followed into her room and to the back corner where it opened into a private version of the baths downstairs. "No wonder you didn't come with us before, you had your own bathroom right here." I spoke in a normal voice now that we were a safe distance from my sleeping sister.

Luxa nodded with a small hum. "Remove your shirt." She disappeared into a small room and I shook my head, trying not to laugh. The first attempt at taking my ruined piece of clothing off was met with a searing pain and I was forced to rethink how I did it.

Finally, I managed to get my good shoulder out first and eased the bad one out slowly. I tossed the soiled shirt on a nearby chair with a groan. Luxa returned with a stone jar and fresh white bandages. I turned to her, chuckling lightly at how prepared she was. "Do you always keep medical supplies in your room?"

Her face was neutral as she set the things on the lip of the basin, grabbing a small washcloth from the pile of towels stacked neatly on the thickest part of the ledge and dunking it into the water. "The Underland is not like the Overland, it is dangerous, and we are constantly healing. No, it is not unusual." I sighed at her tone, she sounded so sad. "Turn around."

Obeying the command, I spun so she could gently run the warm towel over the cuts. It stung a little, but not as bad as when she spread the goop on a second later. "What is that stuff?" I asked but she either didn't care to answer or didn't know, so I dropped it, it wasn't that important anyway. "You know, we worked really well together back there."

Luxa hummed in acknowledgment but at least it didn't sound like she disagreed. I took a breath and decided to address the elephant in the bathroom. "We never talked about what happened last night, at the cave." She gave no response as she finished up wrapping the bandages around my shoulder, looping under my armpit and to the other side of my neck to stabilize it. "The kiss was-" I turned as I spoke only to have her step away from our closeness.

"Was a mistake." She directed her eyes to the wall and glared at it like it had just insulted her crown. "I became too affected by your story and…-" She shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest tightly. "It should not have happened."

As much as it hurt to hear her say that, I just knew it wasn't true. I stepped forward and before she could move away again, took her cheeks in my hands. "I didn't think so." Her eyes met mine, that piercing violet color that was so exotic and amazing because they belonged to her, I saw an emotion I couldn't quite place. It didn't feel forced when I leaned in to connect our lips.

It took a moment but I was elated when she tilted her head into the kiss, her small hands came to rest on my shoulders, burning my skin at the contact and pushing away the throb of pain from my back. We pulled away for air and I rested my head on hers, breathing hard with my eyes closed, pleased when I could feel her doing the same.

Luxa's nose brushed mine and I finally opened my eyes only to have her step away from me although it didn't feel as defensive as the last few times, it still hurt. I heard her sigh under her breath before she spoke in an equally as low voice. "You need to rest for tomorrow, stay off your back." She walked me back through her room and into the central atrium before disappearing behind her curtain without a second thought.

Grudgingly I returned to Boots's room, stopping next door to get a fresh shirt and muscling it on. I got to the bed and collapsed next to my sister, making sure to tuck her under my arm so I would know if she ran off again.

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 **Well I hoped you enjoyed this next installment. To be honest I never intended to continue it, or even have it be related to UC; it started as a one-shot for a writing contest but I wanted to expand on it so the best thing I could connect it to was Gregor. I'm glad I did, I love where this story is going and I hope you stick around to see it!**

 **Thanks for reading my babble. Please leave me a review with positive, negative, or constructive feedback, I love it all!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well hello again all, I'm trying my best to update every week and I thought I would start a fun little weekly note. I wanted to do an inspirational quote for every update. Feel free to submit one (either in reviews or a pm) if you have an awesome one you'd wish to share. Here's week one:**

 **"If you could believe in Santa Clause for 8 years than you can believe in yourself for 5 minutes, ok? You got this." -some tumbler post I saw a while ago.**

 **As always, I do not own Gregor the Overlander.**

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Dulcet woke us up the next morning, but Luxa didn't make an appearance. I picked out a dark blue outfit from the other room and Boots had a faded red ensemble on when I returned. She seemed more energetic than the other morning like she was getting use to the Underland schedule. "Is Luxa going to join us?" I asked as we started out the main door.

"The princess woke many hours ago," She held the curtain for the two of us. "She requested I wake you and bring you to breakfast."

We walked to High Hall holding hands while Boots babbled about a dream she had where Temp took her on a magical ride through the North Pole to meet Santa Claus. I was just finishing my breakfast of a spectacular omelet when Vikus entered and started talking in a rush. "You must prepare for the trip, Gregor. Mareth will take you to the Museum for anything you may wish to bring along on the journey. Go quickly and meet back here."

I nodded and turned to see the guard already speed walking away. I shoved one more bite into my mouth and kissed Boots on the head, sprinting to catch up with him. "Why are we going to a museum for quest supplies?" I asked him.

"I believe the Museum is unlike what is in the Overland, it will become apparent when we arrive." He barely let up as he spoke, speeding down the stairs and hallways with incredible ability. We arrived at a huge cavern with shelves that seemed to go on forever, loaded with hundreds of objects. Mareth handed me a leather bag. "Remember, you must carry what you choose."

"Wow," I muttered, wondering around the first few shelves; they were filled to the brim with anything from pennies and dimes to baseballs and care tires. "Where did all this stuff come from?"

"It is all that has fallen from the Overland." He replied but his voice was far away like he hadn't moved from the entrance. I nodded to myself but kept moving since I was on a time crush; some of this stuff looked hundreds of years old and I would have loved to look through it all. I planned on coming back to look through it all, as long as I didn't die on this quest.

I tried to focus, what could I bring that would help? It struck me that the one thing the most obvious down here was the need for light, so I found a few decent sized flashlights, stuffing them in my bag and scoured the shelves for any working batteries. I passed a previous shelf for the second time when the bright yellow hard hat just above my head caught my attention. It had a light built into the top like it was meant for a miner or construction workers in the tunnels of New York City.

Without hesitation, I shoved it on my head and started back towards Mareth. My eyes never stopped scanning as I walked and I spotted it: a can of root beer. An honest to goodness can of A&W root beer. I knew I shouldn't have taken it, but I haven't had the opportunity to drink soda since...probably when I was nine and on the bus out of Virginia. "We must go!" The guard called urgently. I stuffed the can into one of the bag's side pockets and rushed out of the Museum after him.

Mareth brought me to the nursery where Boots was playing with a few other Underlander kids and I almost rethought taking her with me, but at the same time, the palace could be under attack by rats at any moment and the thought disappeared. We were staying together, it was what my mom would have wanted and I owed her that.

Dulcet walked with us to High Hall even though she didn't have to as Mareth led us the whole way, but it was oddly calming with the idea of possibly dying in the future to have her steady presence next to me. I found out earlier that she was twenty one, talking to her when Boots was playing, and it brought peace to me not just with her caring for my sister but how adult her demeanor was; it felt like having a responsible older sister. "Thank you, for everything." I told her, scooping Boots up so she could be at eye level with us.

"Bye bye Dulcet!" She chimed, reaching out to hug the girl's neck which dragged the two of us extremely close, when Luxa walked in. "See you later!"

I caught the princess's gaze and saw how agitated she was as the two continued to talk. "Fare you well, sweet Boots." The nanny smiled genuinely and kissed the little girl's cheek. "I will see you soon." She gained a somewhat sad expression as she turned to me, reaching out to lightly touch my bicep. "Fly you high, Gregor the Overlander."

I barely had time to get out a "Take care." before she was gone and I couldn't shake the idea it was in fear of the cross armed glare Luxa had sent her from next to Aurora. It was then that I noticed the biggest change in her appearance. Her long silver locks had been down to her butt but now stuck out just behind her ears in a short pixie cut. "Whoa, your hair."

Luxa seemed caught off guard and the scorn was erased for a moment. "Long locks are dangerous in battle."

I nodded because it made sense but shifted on my feet awkwardly. "Yeah, no." I blinked at the counter agreement, shaking my head to rid myself of the strange feelings. Feeling more myself, I leaned in just a little so I was in her personal space but not enough to alert the other people in High Hall. "It looks really good."

She took a small breath and stepped back. "My beauty is not of concern." Luxa crossed her arms again and stared at the floor for a moment but added quietly, "Thank you."

Just as she whispered the response, Henry entered High Hall with an unnaturally small girl about Dulcet's age, it looked like he was trying to comfort her. "...they have worsened, some terrible evil awaits you: evils beyond death brother. Fly you high, Henry. Fly you high."

He hugged her and jumped on Ares, sending her a confident grin. "Do not distress, Nerissa. I have no plans to die."

I gulped nervously when she walked towards Luxa and I when I noticed the princess had slinked away to load some supplies, leaving me alone with the strange girl. She was crying and I got jittery because I had absolutely no experience in comforting people. Without saying anything, she handed me a scroll of some kind of animal hide. "For you, Overlander. Fly you high." Leaning on the wall, she left the room faster than I thought she physically could have.

I found the scroll had the prophecy written on it and I was glad to have it so I could read it again. "How did she know I wanted this?" I muttered to myself and half to Boots since she was so close.

"Nerissa knows many things, she has a gift." Luxa suddenly reappeared but her curiosity struck me as she stared at my head instead of my eyes or the spot between my nose. "What is on your head?"

I had to reach up to double check before I realised what she was talking about. "A hard hat, with a light." I suddenly got excited and flipped the switch to show her. Instantly I saw her fingers twitching like a little kid trying to contain their excitement of trying a new toy. Henry walked over at the demonstration. "Here, try it."

She tried to pass it off as a quick look but it was obvious she was enjoying playing with the switch to turn the light on and off. "How does the light remain inside with no air? Does it get hot on your head?"

"It runs off a battery, like electricity, but there's a layer of plastic between the light and your head. You can try it on."

She did and pivoted her head to shine the light around. Henry took it from her hands to do the same with an excited grin and for a moment if felt like we were a group of friends just hanging out. "You will begin a new fashion." He joked, grabbing a torch to parade it around on his head. "What do you think?"

"I believe your hair would light before your social life, cousin." She laughed and Henry handed the helmet back to me. I switched the light off to conserve the battery life.

Vikus walked in and Luxa sobered up, walking up to Aurora to adjust some invisible problem. "Wow, she can go from happy to serious in a second can't she." I observed to Henry who had straightened and also quited.

"She has had many years of hard lessons from Vikus." Henry sighed, speaking lowly so she or anyone else wouldn't hear. "Becoming Queen is not for the light hearted, she takes it very seriously."

"Gregor, ride you with Luxa or I?" The old man asked, glancing at his granddaughter.

"Well I've rode with Luxa so far-" Boots wiggled out of my arms to run over to examine whatever the princess was doing, it seemed like she was really attaching herself to the royal.

"I wish to discuss the prophecy with you, Overlander, ride you with me?" He interrupted, giving me a look that highly recommended I say yes.

I scratched my head and looked back to the two girls next to the golden furred bat. "Um yeah, that's a good idea. Boots, we're going to fly with Vikus, ok?"

Though I had never seen her have a temper tantrum, I had a feeling that if I didn't come up with something fast, I was going to see my first one. "Or you can ride with Luxa if she says yes-"

"Luxie! Can I ride with you? Please, please, please!" She latched onto the to-be Queen's waist which may have been frowned upon but just looked adorable with the little girl as she stared up with big, pleading eyes I don't know how anyone would say 'no' to.

Luxa looked taken by surprise either from the strange nickname or by the personal space intrusion, but nodded. "Of course." Which gained several 'yay's from Boots and some long story I couldn't follow but it made Luxa smile.

"Mount up!" Vikus yelled and Henry swooped onto Ares, I helped Luxa by handing Boots to her once she was on Aurora, then took the extended hand to swing up on Vikus's big grey bat.

Solovet flew in from another room and ordered us to the air, forming a V-like arrangement the way birds do with her leading point. I started to get excited as we made our way from the city as the idea of my father being alive sunk in, grinning as we flew. He was alive! My dad was alive, all this time, I always felt like he was out there somewhere.

We flew over the gates to the stadium I had first come in as they were being fortified with giant stone slabs. In the roads, wagons filled with food were everywhere, people and kids walked along them headed toward the palace. More torches were being lit along the way. "Wouldn't you want it darker if the rats were going to attack?"

"No, but the rats would much rather it that way. We needs our eyes to fight, they do not; most creatures in the Underland such as crawlers, flyers, fish, need no light. Humans would be lost without it." I nodded, extremely glad I had thought of grabbing flashlights from the Museum.

The city turned to a large expanse of farmland of some kind of grains under rows of hanging lamps. I kept looking around and caught Solovet talking to bats that had, at some point joined us. "She is forming a plan of attack. My wife leads our warriors, she accompanies us to gauge the level of support we may expect from our allies." Vikus said like he had read my mind. "Do no let Solovet's gentle demeanor fool you, when planning battles, she is more cunning and wily than a rat."

I nodded, having been thoroughly fooled myself. "So uh, what do you think of the "Prophecy of Grey'?" I asked, taking out the rolled paper Nerissa had given me earlier, mostly so I could look away from the passing landscape.

"Yes, what puzzles you about it?"

"Most of it, honestly." I muttered but he chuckled gently in understanding. "Maybe we could go through it one piece at a time?"

Vikus nodded but didn't falter from his frontward gaze so I read off the first stanza of the poem:

 _Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread._

 _The hunters are hunted, white water runs read._

 _The gnawers will strike to extinguish the rest._

 _The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest._

The old man was silent so I took it as my cue to speak my mind. "Well the first line seems obvious, it's a warning, but what's with the second line: 'the hunters are hunted'?"

"The rats are known in the Underland as the hunters, for they happily track and kill the rest of its inhabitants. Last night, we hunted them to save you; white water ran red when we left their bodies in the river." Vikus explained as if it were clear but something still bugged me about it.

"Are 'gnawers' the rats?" I asked and gained a nod of confirmation. "The quest, what we're on right now, to get my dad. It sounds like this whole mess is my fault." I muttered, gripping the animal hide paper harder.

"No, Gregor. You are only one player in a long, difficult tale. 'The Prophecy of Gray' trapped you as it has trapped us, long ago. Read on." He pushed and I sighed, his little pep talk didn't exactly make me feel one hundred percent but it did ease my mind a bit.

 _An Overland warrior, a son of the sun,_

 _May bring us back light, he may bring us back none._

 _But gather your neighbors and follow his call,_

 _Or the rats will surely devour us all._

"This is about me; 'a son of the sun' is basically the Overland in a nutshell."

"True, but also a son who seeks his father. It is the comedic wordplay Sandwich delighted in."

"Yeah, he's a funny guy." I muttered as quietly as I could so Vikus couldn't detect my rude sarcasm. "I'm guessing 'light' is a synonym for life with the war coming up."

"Yes," Vikus seemed to grow more gloom as he talked. "But Sandwich could never clearly see if in fact you succeed in bringing back light or not, though he was certain we would die by the rat's' teeth should we not attempt the venture."

"Inspiring." The possibility of failing made my chest hurt and I glanced over where Luxa flew, parallel but slightly ahead of us with Boots settled in front and between her legs. Whatever Boots was saying made Luxa smile and laugh; it looked like they were really enjoying each other's presence. The idea of either or both of them not surviving this quest lit a fire in my heart.

 _Two over, two under, of royal descent.  
Two flyers, two crawlers, two spinners assent.  
One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead.  
And eight will be left when we count up the dead._

"What are all the twos about? And what are crawlers and spinners?"

"The line tells us whom we must persuade to accompany us on the quest. The 'two over' are you and your sister, 'two under of royal descent' are Luxa and Henry. Henry's sister, Nerissa, as you saw would be unfit to come. Fliers are bats, crawlers cockroaches, and spinners are spiders. This is what we do now, assemble our neighbors as the prophecy dictates." We flew through an arch into a ginormous cave and I noticed that even more bats had started to fly with us. "First, the bats."

"I thought we already had them, your bonds?" I glanced around to see hundreds of hundreds bumpy protrusions on the cave ceiling and realised they were hanging bats.

Vikus nodded and directed Euripides to follow where Solovet led us. "We need official permission to take them on the quest, also, we must discuss the upcoming war with their leader."

We dismounted next to the rest of the gang on a huge stone post that rose out of the seemingly endless black void that made my head spin at the thought. "We believe you to be the warrior," Vikus whispered to me as we waited. "But the other creatures may have doubts, it is essential they believe you to be so."

I nodded and tried to seem confident as a group of bats met us with bows as greetings. The largest, silver white bat stepped forward, clearly the leader. "Queen Athena," Vikus stepped to the side and gestured to me. "Meet you Gregor the Overlander."

"Be you the warrior? Be you he who calls?" The bat purred softly that immediately soothed over my nerves.

Standing a little taller and sticking my chest out, I gave a nod, trying to portray confidence. "I am the warrior." I heard my voice echo in the cavern, Vikus gave a small smile of approval, Henry tried not to roll his eyes, and Luxa had an unreadable expression as she held Boots's hand. "I am he who calls."

Athena was silent for a moment, her small, beady eyes stared at me; they contradicted the soft purr and brought back my nerves. Then she nodded with certainty. "It is he." Her confidence in me struck the image of a bold, powerful, brave warrior the Underlanders could tell stories about for the next century.

I started to muse with the idea of leading my own fleet of soldiers into battle when Boots exclaimed, "Gregor, I have to pee!"

Luxa took Boots to go to the bathroom but I have no idea where. Solovet and Vikus were about to leave for a more private meeting with the bats. "Do you need me?" I asked, my prestige of the warrior starting to get to my ego.

"Thank you Gregor, but no. We are discussing battle positions for our forces, not the efforts of the quest. We shall not be absent long." He placed a warm hand on my shoulder for a moment and walked away with his wife.

I noticed just as they were leaving, Euripides whispered something to Henry where he gave me a plotting grin. I didn't like the look of it as he started towards me. I frowned as he started chuckling as he approached. "Euripides says you are bruising his sides, he wishes we teach you to ride properly."

Unsure how to take that, I tried not to glare at him. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Henry crossed his arms over his chest and I swore he puffed it out, excited that he knew more than me. "You are holding tightly with your legs, you must trust that the flier will not drop you. It is the first lesson we teach the babies."

The passive aggressive comment brought out my sarcastic goblin but I didn't say anything he tried to bait me into. "Well, if you had a pathological fear of heights, I'm sure you would hold on tight too."

"You fear flying?" Luxa asked, landing next to us with Boots in her lap. Her expression was pushing on amusement, which kind of hurt my feelings.

I crossed my arms defensively as I weighed my options of saying what I wanted to or just making her feel bad. "When I was living on my own, I fell off a bridge during the winter and almost died of hypothermia-being so cold from the frozen water-so yeah, I have a bit of an irrational fear of being up high."

Neither of the royals said anything as my agitated story made them feel guilty for teasing me. Mareth stepped in to relieve the awkward tension. "Henry simply means it is easier for children, they have not developed fear."

Henry scooped my sister up, resting her on his hip. "Boots has no fear! You like to fly, Boots? Go for a ride on the bat?" He grinned like a hobo I met once, he was known as the best pickpocket in New York City, which didn't make me feel any better.

"Ye-es! I love to ride the bat!" Boots giggled, throwing her hands up in enthusiasm.

"Then ride you!" Henry exclaimed and threw her right off the side of the rock.

I felt my jaw drop in absolute shock and anger spiked through my veins. In the next moment, I had the front of Henry's shirt balled in my fist, the other pulled back to strike the cocky bastard right in his snarky little grin. My only condolence was it was thoroughly wiped off his face as he stared up at me in fear. "What the hell is wrong with you!" I sneered at him, more than ready to pop him in the mouth.

Mareth managed to peel me off of the royal brat but if I really wanted to, he would already be out cold instead of rubbing his neck. Luxa stood, frozen a step forward with a hand extended like she had wanted to reach out and intervene but stopped. I pushed past Henry to the side of the ledge, trying to ignore the extreme feelings of nausea that overtook me as I squinted into the darkness but the torches only gave a few yards of visibility.

I was about to go back and really clock Henry into next week when a happy squeal above my head rushed relief into my heart. "More!" Boots giggled from the back of a bat. I flipped the switch on my hat to cast a strong beam of light toward the ceiling where dozens of bats flew in circles, playing some kind of twisted game of catch with my little sister; one flew high and flipped over to send her falling through the air when another would gently scoop her up, repeating the process in a horrible loop of terror.

At least, that's what it seemed like to me, but Boots seemed to love it. As I watched, my stomach jumped into my throat and I hurled over the edge of the platform. Henry and Luxa seemed surprised, like they've never met someone that wasn't totally all for jumping off a cliff without a second thought.

When I had emptied the contents of my stomach, I wiped my mouth and stood on shaky legs but in just a few strides had the brat in my fists again. With both hands wrapped in his shirt this time, I lifted Henry up a few inches to give that extra bit of alarm. "Get her down. Now!"

He put his hands up in surrender as the guard eased me off him for the second time. "She is not in danger, Overlander." He grinned, the cockiness coming back as soon as I didn't have him within punching distance.

"It is true, Gregor," I blinked because Luxa actually called me by my first name instead of Overlander. "She is safer with the bats than in human hands, and she is not afraid."

"She's seven!" I growled at her, taking an angry step at her but she didn't falter like Henry had. "Now she's going to think she can jump off anything and be caught!"

"She can!" Luxa returned, her own anger building like my own was feeding it.

I balled my fists, trying to reduce my anger because it wasn't with her. "Not in the Overland, Luxa! There's _death_ waiting for her if she has that mentality, do you want to be responsible for that?"

The princess set her jaw, her expression neutralizing as she stared back at me, her eyes dull. She raised her hand and a bat flew down, flipping over to send Boots into my arms. I caught her and pulled her close, forgetting about the Underlanders as I held her tight, burying my face in her curls and trying to calm myself down. She was telling me how much fun it was but all I could focus on was that she was with me, she was safe.

Moments passed when Henry spoke, his voice softer like he finally realised he had upset me. "It was meant to be entertaining."

"Yeah, why don't you open a theme park." I snarled, knowing they had no idea what I was talking about but they got the point from my tone.

"It was not Boots that required this lesson anyway," Henry crossed his arms defensively, any sliver of remorse gone in a flash. "It was you."

"Save your breath cousin. The Overlander will never give himself to the bats." Luxa spat like the thought was just as ridiculous to her that throwing a child off a cliff was to me.

I took a breath to calm my racing heart rate and started walking away, not giving either of them the satisfaction of an answer. Mareth stood off to the side looking extremely embarrassed by his rulers' actions. I vaguely heard Henry dare Luxa to a race and the two jumped off the ledge. "Can I do it again, Gregor?" Boots asked as I walked away.

"No, little girl, we have to let the bats rest." I lied but she accepted it and sat with me in the space of my legs when I crossed them, leaning against the one wall that connected to the platform.

"You must not take what they say to heart." The guard said lowly. "They were kind as children, but changed when the rats took their parents."

I looked up at him over Boots's curly brown locks as she played with my fingers, bending or pulling them while having little conversations between my pointer finger and thumb. "Henry's parents were killed by rats too?"

He nodded. "Some years before Luxa's, Henry's father was the king's younger brother. Other than Overlanders, the rats would see the royal family dead. After their death, Nerissa became frail like glass and Henry hard as stone."

I left it there, my anger dissipating as the new information sunk in. For the longest time I had issues with hating people when I learned they had just a hard time as I have in the past, like this bully in the fourth grade that was only mean because his father beat him so bad that one day he had to go to the hospital.

Vikus came back just then and I climbed on his bat without saying anything, still holding Boots. As I swung my legs around the bat's body, I noticed I had been squeezing my legs together but I just figured that's how you stayed on. The elderly man rode with his legs swinging free so I copied him, slightly envious that Boots wasn't tall enough to need to worry about it.

"We visit the crawlers next," Vikus informed me. "Would you like to continue to dissect the prophecy?"

I sighed, feeling very emotionally taxed. Looking at Luxa behind us and the stoic gaze she held, purposely ignoring me. "Maybe later."

"Very well, we will be flying for a distance if you wish to rest." I nodded and crawled further on the bat's back. Laying down with my eyes on the ceiling calmed my stomach and I was able to close my eyes, I started to drift off when I felt Boots still next to me; her head rested on my shoulder and I pulled her closer to my slide.

"'Night, big brother." She mumbled into my neck, her breathing evening.

"Good night little girl." I told her back even though I knew she was too far got to hear, wishing I could forget all my problems as easily as she could.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it, as always feedback is always welcome!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome back! For today's quote I went with Maya Angelou: "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud."**

 **Feel free to submit a quote :)**

 **As always, I don't own the Underland Chronicles.**

* * *

Vikus roused us a few hours later and I was feeling much better with a bit of sleep under my belt. Euripides coasted into a landing and we slipped off the big grey bat, the only one excited to be here was Boots, whose head just grazed the top of the short ceiling; it couldn't have been more than four and a half feet tall. The bats suffered the most as they could only sit, painfully hunched over and twitching every so often at some high frequency sounds we couldn't hear.

I was thankful that everyone sat down, relieving the stress on my back from the foot and a half difference of my height to the ceiling. The room itself was round and flat, kind of like a pancake, and it made a lot of sense why the cockroaches chose it; bats couldn't fly and humans or rats wouldn't be able to fight so hunched over.

A few moments later a group of roaches appeared and bowed to us, I followed along when the Underlanders rose to their knees and returned the gesture. Boots ran forward enthusiastically. "Hi, bugs! Hi!"

The cockroaches crackled to themselves. "Be she the princess, be she? Be she the one, Temp, be she?"

A second later it looked like Boots recognized one of the roaches and grinned wildly. "Hi, Temp! Can we go for a ride?"

"Knows me, the princess, knows me?" If a cockroach could be amazed this one was.

"Ye-es!" Boots put her hands on her hips like it was obvious. "You brought me from the hole, you gave me a ride! Can we go again? Please, please!"

"Careful, Boots." I reached forward to hold her bouncing shoulder down before she smacked her head on the ceiling and became less than happy. I took her hand and put it on the lead roach's head. "Like a puppy, gentle." She grinned as she patted the bug's head between its antennas, it shivered in happiness which had to be close to the grossest things I've seen.

"Knows me, the princess, knows me." The roach repeated in a whisper like he couldn't believe it. "Recalls the ride, does she?"

"You're the one that carried her to the stadium." I realized, noticing that the bug did look oddly familiar, and I couldn't believe I was identifying a cockroach. It was still amazing to me that Boots could pick him out among the other twenty roaches that looked exactly the same. Vikus met my eyes, his eyebrows up in surprise and asking for an explanation but I shrugged, having no idea.

"I be Temp, I be." He said as a confirmation.

The old man cleared his throat, bringing the focus to him. "Crawlers, we have grave matters to speak to you on. Take us to your king, take us?"

Solovet and Vikus were led away by the pack, leaving Temp and another roach named Tick behind. I sighed, _'Great, this again.'_ I thought as Luxa, Henry, Mareth, and I were left alone again. I didn't know what they were capable of in such a tiny space, and the surroundings didn't help but make me feel more anxious.

The roaches took turns giving Boots rides around the large room and for several minutes, everyone just watched the bugs run around with the child on their backs. I frowned, not feeling very safe in the bug's "land" but at least Mareth was here, he was a decent fighter and even more of a guy. The bats weren't that bad either and Euripides seemed in a better mood since I changed my riding position, the five of them huddled together and slept; I'm sure they were tired after flying for so long.

Mareth rested our two torches on a pile of fuel to start a fire, starting to cook some food while Luxa and Henry sat off to the side whispering to each other away from us, which I was just peachy with. I leaned against one of the walls next to the fire with my legs hugged to my chest, half to stay warm half to keep my shoes from melting in the fire. "Can you tell the crawlers apart?" I asked the guard, somehow the Underland word for cockroaches felt more natural than the one I grew up with.

"No, it is most impressive your sister is able to. Few among us can make any distinction, Vikus is better than most, but to pick one from so many…" He shook his head, fiddling with the food. "It is strange. Perhaps an Overlander trait?"

I laughed dryly without moving my chest. "No way, they all look the same to me." I thought back to elementary when we had those 'find the difference' pictures where there was five things different and I could never find the last change.

Mareth chuckled but didn't comment so I set to work testing batteries from the Museum, I was in such a rush I had no time to make sure they had juice. As I flipped the switch, I accidently pointed it right at Henry and Luxa who jumped at the sudden burst of light. I lowered my head to hide the smirk and kept going, purposely doing it a few more times just to mess with the two royal brats. Yes, it did make me feel better, no matter how childish it was.

' _They wouldn't last one day in the Overland.'_ I mused. ' _Definitely not in my shoes.'_

I found that all of the batteries had life except two, the one inside the hard hat didn't match any of the others, so I'd have to use it sparingly. I put the working ones back into my pack. "These two are duds." I told Mareth like it mattered. "They don't work."

The guard nodded, reaching over to take them off the cavern floor. "Shall I burn them?"

I didn't register what he said for a moment and lunged forward when it finally clicked, but I was too late as the small batteries had already left the man's hands. "Shit. Everyone get away from the fire! Cover your eyes!"

With a handful of Mareth's shirt in one hand and Boots scooped up in the other, I ran towards a very confused Luxa and Henry. "Get down!" I yelled at them all. We reached the farthest side of the circle away from the fire when it started popping. "Hide your eyes!"

While Henry and Mareth followed my direction quickly, and I had Boots tucked into my chest, but Luxa was still frowning in the direction of the fire like she just couldn't accept why we were running away. In frustration, I reached up to wrap my free arm around her neck and pulled her under my body just as the fire flared up.

I tucked my own head in as a bright blast pierced even my closed eyelids. I didn't let them stand up until I was positive the batteries had burned their worth. I slowly glanced over my shoulder at the now peaceful fire, finally releasing everyone out of their crouch. Boots was squirming from the fireman hold I had her in, slapping my wrist after I set her down before running back to her new friends.

I barely had time to roll my eyes before the Underlanders were demanding answers, well mostly Luxa did the demanding with her hands on her hips standing as far away from me as possible, but I still saw the remnants of a blush. "Are you trying to kill us, Overlander?"

Mareth stepped between us, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Yell not at Gregor, Luxa, it was I that threw the items into the fire."

Vikus and Solovet returned just then, worried looks on their faces turned to confusion when they saw our predicament. "What goes on here?" The old man asked.

Mareth stepped forward, still holding Luxa in case she decided to lunge at my throat, which I greatly appreciated. "A minor disruption, come, the food is ready." Though I could see the physical reluctance from the two royals, they followed with the promise of food.

"Boots, dinner!" I called to the little girl to come from her play with the roaches.

She ran over but stopped when her friends didn't come along. "Temp, Tick! Dinnertime!"

The other members of the quest shifted awkwardly, obviously they didn't want or think of inviting the cockroaches. The bugs shook their heads but was more like shaking their whole bodies. "No. Princess, we eat not now."

Boots frowned as they started to run the other direction. "Stay!" She called after them and they immediately sat.

"Boots." I chastised her for the demanding tone. "You don't have to stay," I told them. "She just wants to play after she eats."

"We will sit." One of them, maybe Tick, said stiffly like he wanted me to just drop it.

We all ate like we haven't seen food in a week, except Vikus. Henry started the first conversation with his mouth full of fish. "When do we leave?"

"We do not." Solovet muttered angrily. "The crawlers have refused to come."

Luxa's head snapped up at the admission. "Refused? On what grounds?"

"They do not wish to anger King Gorger," Vikus continued. "They have peace with both humans and rats, they do not want to unseat it."

"Now what?" I asked, the prophecy said we needed two roaches, so what happened if they couldn't get them to come?

Solovet picked at her food. "We have asked them to rethink. They know the rats are on the march, so this may swing them in our favor."

"Or in the rats'." Luxa grumbled to herself and I agreed. The roaches had already loosely tried to trade my sister to the rats, knowing they would eat her, and that was when there wasn't a war breathing down their necks. The bugs weren't fighters, that was obvious, so to do the best for their species would be their first and most important actions. The rats probably looked like the stronger allies, if you could trust them.

I tossed a piece of fish into my mouth. "What makes the crawlers think they could trust the rats over us?"

Vikus shook his head looking very sad. "The crawlers do not think in the same way we do."

"How's that?" I asked after swallowing.

Henry broke into the conversation angrily. "With no reason or consequence. They are the stupidest creatures of the Underland. They can barely even speak!"

"Silence." Luxa snarled at him and returning to her food before the aghast looking elderly couple could speak. The snap coming from his cousin clammed Henry up immediately, but she didn't chastise him further. I flashed back to the arena when she reprimanded him for speaking ill about the crawlers, but also that she didn't disagree with what he had said.

I looked at where Tick and Temp sat, they didn't seem to have any reaction to the insult but of course they had heard it. They maybe weren't the brightest but it was still rude to say it with them right there. It wouldn't make them want to come any more than they already didn't.

"Remember you when Sandwich arrived to the Underland, he noted the crawlers had been here for countless generations. No doubt they will remain when all warm blood has passed."

Henry shook his head, glaring at his food. "That is rumor."

"No, it's not. Cockroaches have been around for three hundred million years, people haven't been here more than six thousand." I interjected, the random stuff my dad used to tell me when I was younger suddenly all rushing back. He showed me a time line once of when animals evolved on Earth, the cockroaches were impressively old, so I guess that stuck with me; especially when I ran away and saw them nearly every day on the road, basically living among them.

"How do you know this?" Luxa was first to speak after the information and I could tell she was interested.

I shrugged. "Science. Archaeologists dig up fossils and can tell how old they are. Crawlers are really old, they haven't changed much, and they can withstand a lot." I thought about the tests in the papers I saw in dumpsters that scientists had blasted them with nuclear energy and they were still alive, but that would need more explanation than I could give. "They're pretty amazing." I added the last bit because I knew Temp and Tick could hear us.

Vikus smiled at me and my appreciation of the bugs. "For a creature to survive so long, no doubt, it is as smart as it needs to be."

"I do not believe your 'science'." Henry defended. "Crawlers are weak, they cannot fight, so they will not last. This is how nature intended."

"What do you think?" I asked Luxa, she had reverted for a moment in High Hall before we left to a few harsh comments toward the bugs, but did yell at Henry earlier when he called them stupid. She sat with her hands on her knees, holding her food and staring at it, not really participating in Henry's rant. "If something isn't strong, does it deserve to die?"

"Every creature is alive for a reason." She said evasively. "Each brings their unique contribution to the lives of others."

Vikus seemed happy at her answer and suggested everyone try to sleep. I spread a thin blanket at one edge of the chamber so I could watch Boots try and teach the roaches Patty-Cake. I tried not to laugh too loud as they waved their legs around in confusion.

"Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can! Pat it, pick it, mark it with a 'B', put it in the over for Big Bugs and me!" Boots sang, clapping and slapping the roaches' feet.

They were completely perplexed as she cheered at the end. "What sings the princess, what sings?" Temp asked, or maybe it was Tick.

"It's a song kids in the Overland sing." I told them, leaning up on my elbow to support my head on my side. An idea started to form in my head. "She put you in it, that's a big honor. She only does that if she really likes you." Honestly at this point, I bet Boots would sing that with any homeless guy she saw on the street, irony to my own situation aside.

"I love big bugs!" Boots confirmed and sang it again.

I let her finish and go through it one more time as the roaches seemed to begin to understand. "Alright Boots, time for bed now. Say goodnight."

The little girl jumped forward to hug the two. "Goodnight, Big Bugs! Sleep tight!" I was glad she didn't continue with a 'don't let the let the bedbugs bite' as she ran over to me. She snuggled up to my side with too much energy so I let her play with the flashlight, clicking it on and off, but I didn't want her to run the battery down, so when I noticed it was visibly making the reset of the party uneasy, I lulled her into lying down to finally sleep.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard one of the roaches mutter, "Honors us, the princess, honors us?"

A beam of light broke my slumber, or maybe the rock in my shoulder blade, and shifted to pull Boots closer to me only to find cold stone. I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I found my little sister. She stood in the middle of the circular room, turning around, twirling the flashlight in random patterns like she was conducting an orchestra.

Around her, I could see silhouettes of figures dancing in every direction to form perfect, interlocking rings. They moved in unison from left to right slowly. I opened my mouth to call her name, but just couldn't find my voice at the sight of the ritualistic ceremony.

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 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. In case I don't get my next chapter out in time, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day, St. Lucia Day, Ramadan, National Fruitcake Day (Dec. 27th), Boxing Day, or whatever you celebrate.**

 **Always yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello once again, wonderful people. I recently returned from a 5 day road trip through the Midwest and it sparked my desire to write a chapter, strange, but effective I suppose.**

 **This week's quote comes from The Toast Ninja that really worked to inspire me while I write and also while I was spending close to 24 hours in a car.**

 **"'How long is forever?'...'Sometimes just one second.'"- Lewis Carol, Alice in Wonderland.**

 **Of course, feel free to submit a quote for next chapter through review or private message: user or anonymous, I don't mind.**

 **As always, I don't own Gregor the Overlander, or there would have been a sixth book. On with the story.**

* * *

 _They're going to eat her!_ Panic ran through my mind and I rocketed to my feet only to be stopped the two foot, rock hard ceiling. I immediately dropped to the floor, clutching my throbbing skull with a groan, instantly regretting that I took the hard hat off to sleep. "Ow…" I grumbled, flopping onto my back, already feeling the huge lump forming under my hair.

Vikus placed a hand on my shoulder, putting a finger to his lips in the universal 'be quiet' sign.

"They're going to hurt her." I whispered back, gingerly sitting up and rubbing the point of contact on my head.

"No, Gregor," Solovet cut in from near Vikus, her voice low. "They honor Boots in a manner very sacred and rare."

I looked back at where the roaches moved in the slow dance. None of them were actually touching her, and she didn't seem to be in danger, but it didn't make any more sense. The silence was almost serene, it made me realize how serious the whole thing was, what it meant. It was more than just an honoring ceremony, the crawlers were straight up worshiping her.

"What are they doing?" I asked, crossing my legs and leaning on my knees as I continued watching.

"It is called the Ring Dance," Vikus said and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "In our history, the crawlers have performed it for only one human, Sandwich. They only perform it in private for ones they believe to be chosen."

The explanation didn't make me feel any better, did the roaches think they could keep her just because they did some special dance for her? "Chosen for what?"

"To give them time." The old man said as if the simple sentence explained everything. The phrase was familiar though, it meant the cockroaches thought my eight year old sister could give them life.

It sparked a thought, about how interested the roaches had been in Boots from the moment they brought her to the arena, how friendly she had been to them right away; from how Henry acted, it was obvious that the humans didn't exactly have a high opinion of the crawlers. It would make sense they connected to Boots when she unbiasedly played with them the innocent way kids do before they even know what discrimination is.

Boots clearly made an impression on them. Plus that thing where she could pick out Temp from all the hundreds of cockroaches.

After one more series of turns, the roaches landed on the ground facing Boots. Ring by ring, the bugs scurried away into the shadows where the light didn't reach. When the chamber was finally empty of the insects, Boots yawned enough for two kids and made her way back to me. "I'm sleepy, Greggy." She mumbled, tucking under my arm and falling asleep almost instantly.

I pried the still lit flashlight from her hands, the beam caught the rest of the party and I finally realized they were all awake, watching intently. I shrugged at them, turning the light off and lying down. "She's tired." I heard quiet shuffling and everyone started to calm down as if nothing outrageous had happened.

* * *

We woke up the second time to Temp and Tick announcing they were joining the quest, clearly thanks to the ceremony that happened last night. I hugged Boots, proud of her diplomatic skills that did what even Solovet and Vikus couldn't, like she was some kind of secret weapon.

As we got the bats ready to take off, Temp and Tick refused to ride on a bat that didn't have Boots, which naturally caused an argument. I had prefered to ride with Boots and the only one I trusted with her without me was Luxa, despite her recent behavior, but Aurora couldn't handle to load of two crawlers and two humans for long.

Vikus ended up putting the four of us on Ares, Henry's bond, who was easily the largest bat in the party: strong and agile. As an inexperienced flyer, Vikus gave me a few more tips about riding comfortably for both myself and Ares before we left. Ares flew up high above the rest of the party just in case one of the bugs fell off so they could be caught before they hit the ground. The roaches didn't feel any better about it and I couldn't blame them.

I tried to talk to them, but none of it seemed to help them relax as the terrifying idea of being up high was really affecting them. _I feel your pain guys, I feel your pain._ I thought as I reluctantly climbed onto Ares's back, both because of the idea of flying so high churned my stomach and that Henry's bat probably didn't have any better feelings towards me than Henry did.

Since we were behind schedule, Mareth passed out cake and a version of beef jerky for breakfast and the long journey; Vikus told us we weren't stopping for quite a few hours. Boots sat with her back against mine so she could talk and play with the roaches, hopefully they'd be distracted enough to get through the flight. When the crawlers climbed onto Ares, they clung onto his fur for dear life, and I swear I thought I saw him wince but otherwise he didn't say anything.

None of the bats spoke a whole lot, actually, but if I remembered fourth grade well enough, they could talk in some kind of language too high a frequency for us to hear. Ares, though, never said anything out loud. It would take me a lot as a kid not to talk, like Boots, but I learned quick that speaking without thinking wasn't smart on the street; now a days I was a lot like Ares.

"We now travel to the land of the spinners." Vikus flew just below and in front of us, looking forward yet talking to the whole group. "Keep in mind the rats frequently patrol the area."

Solovet came up next to him, looking at everyone in turn as we flew. "Fly close together, we may need each other's protection."

As we flew, Boots had a field day with her new friends, deciding to entertain herself by singing just about every elementary song known to man. _Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star;_ the alphabet; _Patty-Cake;_ _Row, Row, Row Your Boat;_ _Mary had a Little Lamb;_ _Old MacDonald;_ _Wheels On the Bus;_ and _I'm a Little Tea Pot_ were among them. _The_ _Itsy-Bitsy Spider_ caught the attention of the Underlanders at first but after the twentieth verse, they had lost interest. When she finished her progression, Boots would start over and sing them all again. And again. And again.

I taught her _Hey Diddle, Diddle_ for some variety and Boots picked it up easily, teaching that to the roaches as well. Their tone deaf keys didn't bother my sister, but every new song caused Ares to tense up further.

My stomach handled the jerky better than the rich foods from last night and looking over Ares's shoulder wasn't as physically nauseating, but made me no less anxious. We flew over huge expanses of area, bigger than Regalia by far and even the bat caves which went on for miles in every direction. Unlike the humans and bats, the roaches were spread out instead of groups of highly populated areas that could be defended easier.

It struck me as odd, how would they keep themselves safe if they had to spread out thin to defend all the extra space?

A valley about halfway through the flight proved exactly how, there were more cockroaches than I could even imagine. The secret to the crawlers' success was their incredible numbers. Memories of roaches on the farm flooded my mind. They didn't fight, they ran. If the rats attacked them, the bugs would run away, deep into their territory where they could swarm; losing numbers wouldn't deter them as much it would humans or rats.

Ingenious, really.

An eternity later, Ares started to coast into a landing next to a shallow river. I grabbed Boots and slid off, expecting to land on stone again but hit soft, spongy ground instead. Setting my wiggly sister down to play with the roaches, I ran my hand over it to find it was vine like.

Plants? In the Underland? They seemed to flourish without the artificial lights in Regalia.

"How do these grow without light?" I asked, holding up a handful of the dull gray/green leaves.

"There is light." Vikus gestured to the river. I leaned over to look into the water where jets of fluorescent light were coming out of the bottom. Fish swam between plants and the vines grew toward the bank. "There is fire from the earth."

 _Like mini volcanoes…_ I thought.

"This river runs through Regalia as well, our cattle live of the plants but they are unfit for humans to eat." Solovet added. I nodded, the jerky churning in my stomach as if to remind me that it use to be a cow. It hadn't occurred to me that cows had to eat too but without grass, what was left for them? Vines apparently. Yum.

I could probably spend years trying to learn all the daily routines that these people adapted to the Underland. I just hoped I lived long enough to try.

There were crawlers already fishing at the river when we landed and after speaking to Temp and Tick, well it was more of this weird clicking, they produced half a dozen large fish from the water with just their mouths. I couldn't decide if that was gross or extremely impressive, a little of both I guess. Mareth started to clean them, using the torches again to make a fire and grill them.

I asked Temp to keep an eye on Boots and let her play. He and Tick ran up and down the river's edge, directing my sister from the water anytime she got too close, letting her ride on their backs. Soon it seemed like the cockroaches that we had first talked to let others know we were here, and within ten minutes, dozens of others had shown up to see "the princess".

If I had known calling her that pet name would cause this kind of uproar, I wasn't sure I would have done it.

Food was done shortly and Vikus called everyone over, making sure to include our roach questmates. "It is time that those of the prophecy became of one journey, one purpose, one mind. All are equal here." Despite this, Temp and Tick sat further away from the group behind Boots, but did eat, which pleased the old man. Henry on the other hand, frowned deeply and stabbed at his food, refusing to look at the bugs.

"It is not far now." Vikus said, gesturing to a small tunnel. "We shall make it shortly even on foot."

"To the spinners." I stated, remembering it from how ever many grueling hours ago when we left the bat caves. He nodded and I picked at my fish, I just hoped they would be more willing to help than the roach were, because there's no ace up the sleeve back up plan incase they say no.

Just as I finished my food, all five bats suddenly stiffened, their heads snapping up to peer into the darkness at the edge of the fire's light. "Rats!" Ares hissed, putting everyone into motion.

Temp and Tick were the only two roaches that stayed, the rest were gone before I could stand up. I guess they really had the flight part of that fight or flight thing down. I scooped Boots up just as Vikus started pushing me towards the tunnel he pointed to earlier. "Run!" He ordered me, cutting me off before I could protest. "The rest of us are expendable, you are not! Run, Gregor!"

The elderly man jumped to his bat with grace to join the others that had already taken to the air, just as a group of rats charged onto the shore. The lead rat, a gray weathered rat with a diagonal scar across his face, pointed right at me. "Kill him!"

Not having a weapon didn't bother me so much as holding my sister did. Before I could hide her from the fight in the canoe, but now the only option I had was to listen and actually flee the fight this time.

I set Boots on Temp's back, the only way I could tell the difference was his slightly larger size than Tick, and told her to hold on tight. We sprinted towards the tunnel opening when I glanced over my shoulder to see Vikus bash the lead rat with the butt of his sword. The remaining five Underlanders continued to attack the other rats, swinging their swords that clashed against claws.

"Run!" Solovet snapped at us with a tough voice that directly countered the quiet one I had heard up to that point.

Temp and Tick nudged the back of my legs. "Make haste, make you, make haste."

I turned a flashlight on and we started down a tunnel that was just tall enough so I could run properly. After several feet, I lost Tick but when I turned, I found the whole opening from floor to ceiling filling up with crawlers. They had come back from where they had run to and were using their bodies to make a barrier; it had to be dozens of layers thick, practically an impenetrable organic wall.

 _They're going to let themselves be killed._ I thought, stopping to stay and help only to have a roach call at me from the wall. "Run! Run with the princess!"

I nodded, they were right. I had to get Boots out of here and keep her safe, I had to save my dad, hell maybe even save the Underland from the rats, but there was no way I was getting through the ever growing cockroach wall if I tried. I turned and took off down the passage with Temp.

The roach and I settled on a pace while I held Boots's hand and told her everything would be ok. I just hoped she couldn't detect the doubt in my voice.

The cling of battle became all but none in the distance, when we were attacked.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed and had a wonderful New Years, I spent mine with friends in a hotel room with champagne, orange juice, silly string, and glow sticks. Feel free to share yours :)**

 **Always yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Greetings again everyone, I've been in such a great mood to write this story but I'll be super tied up after this weekend. College classes are starting up again plus the softball season has officially started so I'll be practicing all week on top of classes.**

 **This week's quote comes from the one and only Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss: "You have to be odd to be number one."**

 **Feel free to submit any quotes via review or private messages, anonymous or not I'm open to anything!**

 **I do not own the Underland Chronicles.**

* * *

Running. Running. Running.

I was use to it, I've done it everywhere. You name it and I've run there, likely with someone chasing me, so running through some random tunnel, tens-maybe even hundreds-of miles underneath New York City while pursued by giant rats that wanted to kill me...well that was just another Tuesday.

I can't believe I just rationalized being hunted by giant, blood thirsty rats. That wasn't even the end of the crazy.

Boots giggled from her spot on Temp's back, holding onto the edge of his...shell?...as the bug scurried along side me. Tick had rejoined us at some point but after almost half an hour of running in near pitch darkness, it all kind of blurred together.

I was just about ask Temp if he thought we could slow down or wait for the rest of the group when my feet were suddenly blasted out from underneath me. I landed on my stomach with a disgruntled, "Ouf!"

Looking down at my feet, I found a sticky, stringy substance wrapped around my ankles. I tugged at it for a moment before Tick came to bite at it, freeing my feet. "Run you, faster, run you!" One of them urged and I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could.

I had just gotten to my feet when another shot hit me in the face and sent me into a tunnel wall, scratching at the sticky material. I was just beginning to make progress when my sandals started to move.

When I looked down, I could just barely see through the string. A spider, the huge kind that only lived in nightmares, had started to wrap my legs the way they did to flies in nature shows. "Hey!" I cried in shock and terror, did this thing think I was an easy meal? The idea horrified me and I started to kick my feet the best I could while they were tangled. It wasn't effective as seconds went by and the spider was already at my knees. "I-I'm the warrior! From the prophecy!" I tried but it didn't affect the spider as it continued up my body.

Out of options, I used my free hand to shine the flashlight in the bug's eyes. It backed up a few feet in surprise, its six beady eyes stared up at me and I moved the light to the ground, immediately feeling bad. The light showed the eight creepy, hairy legs and huge jaw with freaky big fangs that looked like they could go through my neck one way then back out the other. I panicked at the sight and tried hopping away but hardly got anywhere.

I gulped and wanted to scream as the insect tackled me and started up his old task. The silk started to reach my armpits and I tried to put my arms out of the way before they could get caught up too. _It's going to completely wrap me up! Think of something, you nitwit!_ I chastised myself. "Oh, Vikus is going to kill me." I grumbled as what the old man said about Boots and I not being expendable ran through my mind. As soon as I said it, the spider suddenly paused. Taking advantage of it, I kept going. "Yeah, yeah. Vikus sent me, he's on his way right now!"

The bug scurried back again and I figured I had about thirty second before it returned to wrapping me up and sticking me with those fangs, so I kept talking. "He's coming to meet with your Queen, and he's going going to be too happy that you attacked the Warrior and the Princess."

At the reference to my sister, the spider finally noticed the two cockroaches with Boots. She was still sitting on Temp's back who had backed himself into a corner to prevent an attack from behind. Tick flared out her wings at the other insect like she was daring the smaller spider to do anything. Despite my momentary freak out that the cockroaches also had wings, because why not have giant flying bugs, I felt better knowing the roaches would do anything to protect my sister. I wasn't so good at remembering she was with me, the whole time I struggled with the spider I hadn't spared the eight year old a thought.

I was a horrible brother.

I didn't get a second more to think about it when the spider sipped a single thread of my cocoon, sending me probably more than fifty feet straight up into the air. I shouted but couldn't think clearly enough to have it actually have any coherence. Just as I saw the top of the ceiling, I bounced off and started swaying until the elasticity in the string relaxed.

As I was ready to barf my lunch, I heard a small screech that was obviously from my sister. "Boots!" I struggled against the restraints but only managed to swing a little in place. "If you hurt her, I swear to God, I'll kill every last one of you!" I yelled, red running through my vision, my voice lowered and I felt the words vibrate in my chest as I screamed more profanity at the stupid bugs.

I wasn't sure if thirty minutes or seconds passed before I was just howling at the spiders. I finally gave up yelling when I couldn't form clear words without rasping. Using the one arm I managed to keep free, I moved the flashlight to see my surroundings, but I half wished I hadn't. Completely surrounding me were thousands of spiders, maybe not as many of the cockroaches from earlier, but certainly more than my creepy crawler meter could handle. I shivered and horsely yelled how gross they were before falling slack against my bindings.

Hanging there was easily the most boring thing I have ever done, more so than hiding from police in a crawlspace, in ninety degree weather, for five days straight.

I rested my head against the string holding me to the ceiling, keeping my eyes trained on the ceiling. My thoughts wandering to how Luxa and the Underlanders were doing fighting the rats. The last time I saw them fight, they had the number advantage but still struggled, now that there was a rat for each of them and I wasn't there to help, could they make it out without completely loosing someone? Not pumping my ego or anything, but the thought was still there.

The sound of Boots's singing drifted up from my position and I breathed a sigh of relief, whatever happened must not have been too bad if she was still singing to the roaches. Just as she finished another verse of _Itsy-Bitsy Spider_ , the insects started to hum which was quickly picked up by the surrounding spiders. It was oddly soothing and I was just starting to doze off with the thought of being eaten in my sleep when the sound of footfalls shocked me wide awake.

Henry appeared below me and I didn't care if he was the only one that made it through the battle, I was just glad to see an organism with four limbs and no fangs. "He lives!" He shouted behind him, actually sounding happy to see me.

Vikus's voice drifted up, asking some random spider to cut us free and I was suddenly lowered to the ground. As soon as my feet hit the stone, I flopped on my stomach and groaned.

The Underlanders flocked to me, cutting the spider silk with their swords. Henry offered me his arm to help me up, smacking my good shoulder with a sly smile. I turned to where Luxa was painstakingly cutting Boots free with a dagger. The web she had been shot by covered her midsection and had clearly hit her right off Temp's back but she didn't seem to mind, babbling to Luxa about singing to the spiders.

Once she saw we were both free, Boots ran over to hug me but as soon as she pulled away, she smacked my chest. "You said bad words, Greggy. Bad, bad." She wiggled a finger at me, scrunching her face in disappointment before running back to play with the cockroaches.

I shrugged to the party, happy to see five bats and their corresponding riders, small wounds and all. Luxa suddenly appeared, crushing my ribs in a bear hug then pulling away just as fast.

Mareth reached forward to grasp my forearm, grinning despite the free flowing wound on his leg. "We thought you lost."

I shook my head. "Nah, the tunnel led me straight here before I was attacked." The memory making me want to shake out my feet.

"Not in direction," Luxa mumbled, hiding her face in the shadows of the torches and crossing her arms over her chest, I saw her nails digging into her upper arms. "Lost forever."

I felt the unsaid word like a ton of bricks, _dead_. I gulped and tried to change the subject before I stepped forward to hug her to assure her I was ok and alive. "What happened with the rats?"

"All dead," Vikus assured me. "We need not worry they have seen you."

I frowned in confusion. "Why would it matter? You said that everyone would know Overlanders were here by now."

"But only dead ones know you resemble your father, 'a son of the sun'." Vikus said, quoting the prophecy. I suddenly flashed back to the beach where Fangor and Shed would take turns inspecting my face closely, like when you see an old friend after ten years and you can't think of their name. "We wish to keep this a secret as long as we can."

I ran a hand through my hair subconsciously, I could barely remember my dad after so many years; his voice was fading from my memory, there were details about his appearance I couldn't remember for the life of me, like if he had brown eyes or blue, short or long hair, forget his cheek structure.

Vikus placed a warm hand on my shoulder just as I realized I couldn't picture his smile anymore, I guess I looked really down because even Henry looked saddened. I suppose he of all people could understand the feeling, Mareth told me he lost his parents at about the same age. I looked up at the old man, blinking a few times to hide the moisture building in my eyes. "You mirror your father in many ways, Gregor. I see so much of him in you, Boots as well."

I sniffed, giving him a grateful smile but our moment was broken up when spiders started to trickle down around us, moving along their webs. Among them, one particularly elegant, grandiose spider came down right in front of the graying diplomat. The sheer beauty and foulness of the creature made my stomach churn.

"Greetings, Queen Wevox." Vikus bowed so low, I knew if my grandma tried it she would have fallen over. "Meet you, Gregor the Overlander, meet you." He said, gesturing me in a great swoop of his arm. I resisted the urge to wave.

"Greetings, Lord Vikus." She used her two front legs, rubbing them against her chest like an instrument. The strange, creepy voice didn't come out of her mouth and I realized she was speaking using the vibrations from her legs, maybe that was what the spiders were doing when they had all started humming a few minutes ago.

"He makes much noise." The queen continued, like the idea of sound left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. I sucked my lips in and rocked on my heels, looking away from the spider, I guess screaming to no end was kind of counterproductive.

"The Overlander ways are odd." Vikus sent me a look that was half angry, half amused, but clearly said to shut up.

"Why come you?" Wevox continued. Vikus told the whole story in a gentle voice and in less than ten sentences which was equally impressive as much as it made me feel like an asshole for screaming so much. The queen considered it. "As it is Vikus, we will not drink. Web them."

The swarm of spiders worked fast at the queen's command, weaving an intricate structure with silk around us; in less than a minute it was nearly thirty feet high. The design was wide at the base and narrowed as it reached the ceiling, smaller spiders took turned acting as guards at the top in case the bats tried to fly out.

I reached over to poke the sides as Solovet spoke, the soft tone I was use to coming back as she spoke to her disappointed husband. "You knew it would not be so easy."

"We're in jail!" Boots giggled, smuching her face to the tiny opening in the walls, getting stuck for a moment by the stickiness when she pulled back, but it just made her giggle. I'm glad someone was enjoying themselves.

I turned to Vikus. "Are we prisoners now?"

The old man shook his head but it seemed he was talking more to himself than us. "I had hoped with our recent trade agreement, the spinners would be more inclined to assist us."

"We breathe." Mareth offered in attempt to brighten the mood, like yes we're trapped for who knows how long, surrounded by huge spiders but hey, we're alive! "That is no small thing with spinners."

I sighed. "It would be nice to just get a simple yes out of one of these species."

"Truly, we have worked long years to build bridges with the spinners. I thought they would be open minded of joining us but I suppose I overestimated my influence." Vikus gave another big sigh and suddenly looked his age; old, beaten, and exhausted. I felt bad that this meeting wasn't going the way he hoped.

Just as I was about to say something, anything to help, three large baskets of fresh water as well as one with clean cloths were lowered down by a thread. "They're helping us?" I asked as Solovet dunked a towel into the water and began cleaning wounds.

Vikus took a seat near Euripides. "They do not mean to be hostile towards us, we are on peaceful terms with the spinners. We trade with them and do not invade the other's lands, but it would be…" He waved his hand in a circle like he struggled with the right word. "An embellishment, to refer to them as our friends."

I sat next to Aurora with Boots and the roaches as the elderly woman went around to tend to wounds. Luxa, who had a shallow cut along her chin and a few on her upper arms, only washed the gashes before sitting next to me with a clean towel. "How are you?" I asked her, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the lesions.

She shrugged me off, dunking the cloth in the water, sitting up on her knees and shifting closer to me. "Mere scratches. We must tend to your face." I frowned, reaching up to touch my cheek and finding it sticky from where I ripped the spider string off. "This may sting, but if we do not wash the glue from your skin, it will fester."

"Festering doesn't sound fun." I mumbled, offering her my face so she could wipe it off. Luxa met my gaze for a moment, taking my chin in her hand, starting to dab and lightly rub at trouble spots.

I clenched my teeth, not expecting the searing pain that followed the contact, but I guess I couldn't have expected it to be like the harmless Elmer's glue we had in kindergarten. "I know it burns." Luxa said quietly like she was trying to keep her understanding a secret from the group.

"Why? It didn't hurt that much pulling it off." I grumbled, trying not to move my mouth too much as she moved up my chin to my cheek, her fingers also held my jaw in place but focusing on the firm, gentle touch was much better than the sharp blistering option.

She shrugged, leaning in close to a distance I had to swallow hard to maintain control, I closed my eyes to get away from her piercing violets, centering my attention back to the pain. "Spinners are able to produce six kinds of silk, some sticky, some soft as skin."

"I guess they save the sticky kind for shooting down Overlanders." I joked, telling her about the ambush. She laughed when I got to the part where the spider took out my feet. "Don't laugh at my pain, I was running really fast when that happened and it hurt." As soon as I said it I wanted to dunk my head in the water basket; 'really fast'? Seriously, how stupid could I sound saying that.

I was relieved when Luxa's smile stayed on her lips, softening as she moved to the other half of my face. I felt my own relax. "I like your laugh." The words escaped my mouth before I could think twice about it and my heart started pounding to the point I'm pretty sure she could hear it.

The princess met my eyes for a moment, looking away with a blush. "You make me laugh more than I have in a long time." She admitted.

"Really, because you're always laughing with Henry." I scoffed, trying to sound too jealous but it sounded bad even to me.

Luxa noticed with a smirk, leaning back to submerge the cloth in water again, speaking as she rang it out. "Henry is my cousin, he jokes because it is the only way he knows to handle a situation." She paused, shifting on her knees to sit nearly flush against my side. "It is hollow sometimes, I feel like I do it for his benefit rather than mine."

"That's no fun." I looked at her with a sad smile but she corrected my head, turning it so she could cause me more pain. "Do you have any other friends to hang out with?" I winched, not at the torment from my cheek but how Overlander-ish that sentence sounded. I felt even worse when a somber expression passed over Luxa's face. "Sorry, I haven't had friends since I was nine either."

"I had Nerissa, Dulcet, and Henry, of course Aurora." She smiled up at the golden bat who had been silently witnessing my horrible attempt at flirting with her bond. "Was it lonely, living alone all those years?"

I shrugged, happy at the change of topic but not at the same time. "I guess, I spent a lot of time just walking around and thinking. There was a few other homeless guys that looked out for me when I was younger, I probably owe them my life."

"Well," Luxa ran the cloth over my face one last time and with a rush of happiness it didn't hurt anymore, I almost let out a cry of joy. Discarding the towel, Luxa turned my head in random directions, probably looking for any last bits of glue she had missed. I swallowed hard when she ran her fingertips over my neck, up to my chin, and to my cheeks. She directed my face directly in front of hers. "I suppose I should thank them, or we would not be here."

I nodded best I could with her hands on my cheeks. "Yeah, thanks guys." I said but I could only focus on how close she was, her bright violet eyes that seem to have a spark in them, her pink pale lips that made me flash back to the two kisses we've already shared.

Luxa caught me looking at them and I thought she would either hit me or best case scenario make that two a three, but instead her head tilted to one side like a confused cat, her thumbs shifted to rub short circles over my jaw; the pads of her fingers were rough but it felt so good.

Then she was gone and I was left with a racing heartbeat that could not be healthy.

When I regained my bearings, I noticed right away Aurora was laughing at me but thankfully no one else seemed to be aware of what just happened. I released a long sigh at the foreplay, flopping onto my back to stare up at the ceiling, counting from ten to calm myself down. "You are not tired already, are you?" Luxa's voice joked, growing louder as she got closer.

I sat up, finding her with a jar of something in her hands. She sat across from me and took off the cap, inside the bowl was some kind of decent smelling ointment. Luxa leaned forward with a bit of the goop on her fingers, gently applying it to my face. Over her shoulder I saw Solovet with her hands on her hips, arguing with Vikus about the cut on his wrist, which he ended up allowing her to wrap. _Stubborn old man._ I chuckled in my head. _That must be where Luxa gets it from._

I looked over to see Boots petting one of the crawler's head. "Poor Temp," She gingerly tapped its antenna where it had bent at one point, probably when the spiders had shot the little girl off its back. "Ow." I smiled at her concern and as cold hearted as it sounded, I was kind of glad there was a distinguishing factor that helped me tell the roaches apart.

"Gregor." Vikus waved at me to join the group and I realized how far away Luxa and I were. I looked to her and she nodded, wiping the excess lotion off her hands on the towel. I stood and offered her a hand, which she took after a moment of consideration. "My wife fears the spinners may pass on our whereabouts to the rats. She advises we escape with speed."

I rubbed my hands together. "Yeah, I'm good with that. How, exactly?" Their faces became solemn. "Didn't really get that far, huh. What are our options? Can't we just cut through the side and fly out?"

Solovet shook her head, leaning in to whisper. "No, outside the webs is an army of spinners ready to repair any damage and attack with poison fangs. If we were to flee upward, they will leap on us from above."

I rubbed my hands over my face. "Then what's left?"

Moments passed in silence and I found after looking up, everyone one had shifted their gaze to Luxa. Her and Aurora had appeared next to me so silently I hadn't even noticed, her face was calm and determined as her grandmother continued. "If we were to damage the funnel structure swiftly enough that the spinners cannot repair it equally so it will no longer hold their weight. Luxa must perform the Coiler."

"We can do it." She confirmed with a short nod.

Vikus frowned regrettably. "The danger is strongest at the top, and though I would not insist on this option, you are the only one capable."

The princess stood. "We have trained for many years, Vikus, we are able. We should not wait until the Queen changes her mind."

Everyone begrudgingly agreed and set to rearrange the supplies so Aurora wouldn't be weighed down or interfered by any of the packs during the stunt. I came up to where she was speaking to her golden bat in hushed voices. "So what's the big deal with this Coiler thing?" I asked over her shoulder.

She took a breath and let it out, not turning to face me. "It is a dangerous maneuver only successfully done by the fastest and most limber, but mostly, is just a great deal of spinning."

I laughed quietly. "Well if it's anything like those flips I saw you do before, I know you two will do just fine. Good luck, Luxa."

She finally turned with her cocky half smile threatening to poke through. "Luck has nothing to do with it, Overlander."

"Gregor," Solovet called, I sent her one last smile and walked over to the war commander. "Fly you with Euripides, Vikus will ride with me, Henry and Mareth will take one crawler each. I expect you will be able to hold fast to your sister?"

I glanced over at Boots playing with Temp and Tick, totally unaware of what was about to go down. I sighed. "Honestly, I don't know, I've never had to look out for anyone but myself before."

Solovet's expression changed from the theatre director look, where she was clearly thinking about three different things all at once, to a soft smile that reminded me of the one my mom would give me when I apologized for lying; I half expected her to say she was proud of me for telling the truth. "This is understandable, Gregor. Here, we shall tie her to you with a strand of spinner silk."

The others made their way over just as Solovet had finished her contraption. "We must have a distraction to cover Luxa." Mareth commented and it was clear everyone agreed but failed to think of anything.

"Gregor could scream some more." Henry snarked from just outside the circle.

No one looked to be taking his suggestion seriously so I shrugged at him. "Sorry, Henry," The gravel in my voice becoming clear as I finally spoke over a whisper. "I already annoyed the spinners as much as I could. You're open to try though." I heard Luxa give a little snort of laughter under her breath.

"Perhaps the child could assist?" Mareth suggested. "If she were to sing loud enough, it may distract the spinners."

I nodded, it was the best option and I didn't see anyone else coming up with something better. "Boots! I think the spiders need more songs, but you have to sing really loud so all the bugs can hear you, ok?"

"Ye-es! Ye-es! I can sing to all the buggies!" She clapped her hands and jumped. I scooped her up and climbed onto Vikus's big gray bat.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, receiving nods from the party in return. I leaned over to tie the end of the spider's silk around Euripides's neck to finish the tether system that wrapped around my waist, Boots, and then the bat. "Alright Boots, go ahead."

The little girl opened her mouth and delivered with the volume, her singing went from just out of tune to loud screeching that had my ear drums ringing in protest after the first sentence. "Go you, Luxa!"

Aurora took off and I immediately saw that Luxa wasn't exaggerating when she said it had a lot of spinning. The golden bat took off, flying along the stringy walls, rotating so fast it was making me dizzy, all while holding her sword straight over her head. It worked to shred the web to pieces in seconds.

"Wow…" I gasped at the feat, it would definitely take an extremely talented rider to pull this off, not to mention flexible. Euripides flew behind the rest of the group as we tailed Luxa and her carnage. Once she reached the opening at the top, Luxa pulled some Houdini upside-down figure eight, allowing all of us to pass underneath her to freedom.

I was the last one, bringing up the rear, when Luxa experienced her second near death event of the quest. Above us, a spray of the spinner's silk shot out from the darkness. It connected to Luxa's sword arm and ripped her right off Aurora's back in an instant. A pair of large, hairy legs jerked her through the air like a yo-yo.

* * *

 **Well, that's another one. I wanted to comment on something real fast that's been a common question. Yes, I do have a digital copy of the book open when I write so I can maintain the integrity of the story line but also my main pet peeve of reading fanfictions was when original characters aren't true to who they are basic level. It's actually why I became a writer.**

 **While I'm using my own creativity to rework the plot, I want to keep the Underlander's basic speech patterns true to the story. Also I have a horrible memory and barely remember how the book's plot went.**

 **Always yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again, lovely people. I hope you have been enjoying life so far. Today's quote comes from a google picture I saw three minutes ago.**

 **"Change your thoughts and you change your world." Norman Vincent Peale.**

 **Anyway, I don't own the Underland Chronicles, now for the story.**

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"Luxa!" The cry left my mouth in an second, horrified at the sight of Queen Wevox dragging the struggling princess to her death by the arm. Luxa held the string with her free hand and struggled against the Queen's pull, her face scrunched up as she fought; she was seconds from dying and she knew it. She tried to bite at the string but the skinny line was tougher than it looked.

Aurora flapped her wings, hovering in tight circles as she struggled with what to do. I flashed back to when Luxa explained what being bonded to a bat meant, protecting each other to the death, but Wevox wasn't just some spinner she could attack, she was the queen. That had to be really conflicting.

I dug my fist into my bag looking for a miracle, even though Mareth said I was a good fighter, the Underlanders hadn't made it a priority to give me a sword. What did I have that would have any effect? Flashlights? I guess I could shine the light in Wevox's face like the guard spider that wrapped me up and hung me like a goose, but that would only give Luxa a second or two and she needed a whole minute.

My hand wrapped around the can that had fallen to the bottom of the bag. The root beer! I pulled my hand out and worked at untying my tether, wrapping it around the strap of my bag and redoing it around Boots so I wouldn't risk losing the flashlights if I lived through this. I grabbed the soda can and stood as Euripides gained altitude. "Keep singing, Boots!" I told her, jumping off the bat's back.

I shook the can as I flew through the air, forcing the jerky to stay in my stomach. The spider's fangs were inches from Luxa's throat as I cracked the aluminum top, forcing a mini explosion of pressure from within the can. A strong current of root beer launched from it, directly into each of the spider queen's eight eyes.

Just before I could cheer, I glanced down at the steadily approaching ground. My focus skewed as surrounding objects spun and black spots threatened at the edges of my vision. Suddenly a familiar golden bat was under me and I desperately clutched at the fur of her neck. I heard Luxa's shout and glanced up as Aurora flew me into position to catch the falling royal.

Luxa fell into my arms bridal style and I shouted at the bat get us the hell out of this cave.

Aurora easily caught up to the other questers who formed a circle around us. "Blade Wheel!" Solovet yelled over Boots and the remaining bats tightened their ranks, the riders stretched their swords out to the side like a giant circular saw. I tucked Luxa close to my body, glancing around to see if any of the spiders were trying to attack but thanks to Boots's wondrous singing, or maybe the intimidating formation, the spinners were reduced to shrink away into the darkness like weaklings.

It only took us minutes to get free of the spinners and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Boots! Boots!" I called out to the girl who was still chanting _Itsy-Bitsy Spider_ at the top of her lungs.

She stopped with a giggle. "Here, Greggy!"

I made the mistake of glancing over Aurora's shoulder, down towards where her voice came from, about twenty feet below us. I had just enough time to make out her clapping before my chest constricted and I started hyperventilating. All the actions, yo-yoing from the spider trap, jumping off Euripides's back, falling through the air; it all hit me at once.

I was so distracted by my inner panic, I didn't realize Luxa had broken out of my hold and adjusted herself to sit in my lap facing me, her knees on either side of my hips, her hands on my shoulders and shaking them lightly as she called my name. "Gregor, Gregor! Can you hear me? You are safe, you are safe." I was able to force my eyes onto her face, my perspective started clearing of the black shapes with something to focus on. "You are not falling, Gregor. You are safe."

"Safe." I muttered, getting light headed as images of falling from Euripides kept flashing back into my mind, I jerked back involuntarily. Luxa's violet eyes came in and out of sight and I thought I was going vomit right into them.

"Hear my voice, Gregor," She said again, one hand moved to steady my neck and the other took hold of my right hand. "Feel Aurora? We are flying on her, she will protect us, she will keep us from falling. Trust her, Gregor, she will not allow us to fall! Say it: you are safe."

The thick fur poked through between my fingers and I gripped it tight. My breathing steadied and the black spots and shapes faded slowly. I took one more deep breath and nodded at her, forcing my shoulders to relax, just realizing how tense they had been. "Ok, I'm ok. Safe."

Luxa nodded, her expression terrified and worried, but leaned back slightly to give myself space. "I have never seen someone so afraid of flying." She shook her head, still concerned as I closed my eyes for a few moments to collect myself.

"It's not the flying." I muttered, tightening my fingers more gently around poor Aurora's fur, my other hand had fallen from where it had previously supported her back when I caught her, my fingers now gripping the extra fabric at Luxa's clothed knee around the half empty can of root beer. I was amazed that I had somehow managed to keep a hold of it after everything. "It's what happens when you suddenly _stop_ flying that I don't like."

"From your experience on the bridge?" She tilted her head, eyes still running over my face like she was looking for any last signs of distress.

I sighed, having hoped to avoid this. "Yes. No, but yes." Luxa raised an eyebrow at me in a classic 'you better keep talking' face so I did, knowing she wouldn't drop it. "I fell off the bridge when I was eleven and yes that scarred, almost killed, and kept me from going over bridges for a long time, but...there was something much worse."

Ahead of us, Euripides flew up to Solovet so Vikus could transfer to his bat. He undid the crude tether around Boots's waist, his mouth was moving but I couldn't make out what he was saying, I imagine something about how well the girl did with her singing as Boots smiled and clapped. He secured my bag and Luxa walked across Aurora's wing to retrieve it like someone straight out of a circus high wire act.

When she returned, the princess set my pack behind Aurora's neck and urged me back to the wider section of the bat's back where there was more room for the two of us to sit across from each other. I took another breath to prep myself for the difficult story.

"When I first ran away, I spent a lot of time in Chicago, a city in the Overland, and there was this old homeless guy that really helped me. He taught me all the tricks of how to beg for food and money, he always told me I would do well since I was a cute kid on the streets." I paused to shake my head with a smile at the memory of the slightly eccentric old man; his long scraggly beard, wide gray eyes, and the smile that missed the bottom canine tooth. "He taught me things that kept me alive when I was older. I came back to visit him when I was fifteen and he had found a rooftop to live on, not searched often by the police. I don't know how he did it because he was way too frail to move it himself, but he got a big comfy couch up there and made a tent for shelter from the weather; it was amazing."

Luxa's expression softened as I spoke and I wasn't sure if it was just her listening face or how passionately I spoke of my old friend, but it pushed me to continue as the hardest part of the story came up. I swallowed the lump in my throat and blew out a big breath. "People are homeless for a lot of reasons; some run away like me, some can't afford a home because they don't have a job, or because they spend all their money on...illegal substances like drugs...stimulants." I stopped for a moment to search her face for any confusion but found none, she nodded at me to keep going.

"Well, Jimmy, that's his name by the way, he was homeless because he was addicted to drugs. Any money he got, he spent it on them, and when I came to see him he had just bought a new batch. I was asleep when suddenly, Jimmy was shaking me awake, telling me to hide and stay there no matter what. Then, two policemen showed up. They backed Jimmy up to the edge of the roof, he was yelling at them, taunting them, spitting, swearing-" I shook my head as the memory became too powerful, closing my eyes tight and covering them with my hands.

I felt Luxa's petite hand run over my forearm in silent support as she allowed me to take a break. A large, shuddered breath exited my lungs and I used my hands to discreetly rub away the tiny bit of water that had leaked from them, but I don't think I fooled Luxa. "He had no idea what he was doing, he was so out of it from the drugs, and I think he had been drinking that night too. It just...it wasn't his fault, but the police officer took out his gun and threatened him to calm down.

"Jimmy didn't take it seriously, he lunged forward and the officer shot him. The recoil sent him off the side of the building, down one hundred feet to the cement. I hung off the side of the roof for hours, staring down at his lifeless body. No one came to collect it, no one cared, no one but me." I was amazed tears hadn't started free flowing at this point, the image still fresh in my mind as it was that day almost four years ago. "I could have helped him, worked with the police to leave him alone, talked to him to calm down, I-"

Luxa shifted to my side, one hand resting on my knee and the other rubbing my shoulder blade. "Gregor, I may not fully understand the Overland, but I know there is nothing you could do to affect another's actions. This tragedy was not of your fault, you must not think this way."

I sighed, rubbing my palms over the sides of my face, the soothing circles on my back working on my fried nerves. "I know, I've told myself that for years, but I just can't shake that feeling."

She nodded, moving her hands behind her back to support her weight as she leaned backward but stayed next to me. "This fall is what causes your fear?"

"Yep." I popped the 'p' with a heavy sigh, staring into the pitch blackness. "I see him fall in my dreams, then I'm falling with him, or by myself. If I look down from high up, I see myself falling as if it were real." I didn't see any kind of life as we flew. We were silent the remaining flight but it didn't feel forced, it was nice, especially after I just finished talking so much.

Solovet and Vikus picked a spacious cave with a tunnel entrance on one face. Everyone slid off the bats, moving around sluggishly as the last series of events exhausted all of us, except Boots of course. She roused the roaches from their frozen states of fear, running around with a game of tag. The bats huddled together again, trembling out of remaining fear or need of warmth.

The old woman beckoned me over, asking to see the claw marks from the fight at the river. She took out new bandages and re-wrapped it, helping me get my shirt over the restricting gauze.

Mareth began to get food ready when Solovet took everything from his arms, ordering him to rest his leg, which he agreed begrudgingly to sit with Henry, playing some weird card game. That left me and Luxa and I felt more at ease sitting next to her by the fire. "How long did you have to work on that Coiler move?"

She shrugged and tried to pass off the feat. "Many years, but I am not the first to perform it. This was my first time in a real web, it is not quite the same as training."

I nodded. "In the Overland spinners are tiny," I held up my hand to show her my thumb and pointer finger less than an inch apart. Her eyebrows went up at the shocking difference. "We usually just squish them when they get close to us. I practically lived with them in alleyways, crawlers and rats too."

Luxa scowled. "We do not often socialize with spinners outside of our trade agreements. Vikus has brought me to his negotiations with Queen Wevox so I may experience our relations, none of them have had such dramatic endings."

"Probably a good thing, otherwise we wouldn't call it diplomacy." The joke gained a few chuckles from the princess.

Moments passed before she spoke again. "Thank you."

I pulled back to get a better view of her face, it was neutral but slightly amused, as she stared into the fire. "You're welcome...for what exactly?"

"Saving me, with your...weapon?" She pointed to the can of root beer I sat next to me when I sat down.

I laughed. "Oh, it's not a weapon, it's root beer, a drink like water but with a better taste. Here, try it."

Luxa took the can hesitantly, taking a small sip when her eyes grew wide. "It bubbles on my tongue."

I smiled as she marveled at the everyday object. "That's why it exploded, I shook up the bubbles, but it's safe now. You can finish it."

Vikus called everyone in for food and this time Temp and Tick fully joined the circle. "I am drinking Gregor's spinner weapon." Luxa announced to the group and I rolled my eyes good naturally as I was forced to re-explain the whole concept again, everyone got to try a swig.

Boots got it last and giggled as she took her drink. I thought she would either finish it or give it to me but she used the last two gulps to the animals, pouring it into separate puddles. "Bats," She shuffled over to give the groups enough space. "Roachies!" They happily drank up their shares, elated to be included in the group tasting.

"Boots is a natural ambassador." Vikus said, smiling at my sister as she came to sit in my lap, digging into her food enthusiastically. "She treats all with an equality I aspire to myself."

At that everyone quieted to eat. I was just finishing when I decided to ask my question. "So, can we go on with the quest if we don't have spinners?"

Vikus sighed. "That is the question, clearly we cannot expect the spinners to join us willingly."

"We should have seized two when we had a chance." Henry muttered cynically.

"The prophecy says the spinners must assent." Vikus chastised him with a stern glare. "However, there may be hope still, we know the gnawers have taken many spinners prisoner. If we could locate and free a few, we may persuade them to accompany us. I often have good results with spinners."

"You will not be there, Vikus." Solovet scolded him in what she thought was so quietly that the rest of them couldn't hear her, but I did.

My head snapped up and my throat started to dry in anticipation. "What do you mean, you won't be there? You can't leave us, we don't know where we're going."

Vikus sighed and took turns looking at everyone in the group. "Mareth, Solovet, and I will return to Regalia after we rest here. It is time for those of us not named by the prophecy to return home. Henry and Luxa are well trained, Gregor you show great resourcefulness, we believe you will succeed in the remaining leg of the quest."

I shook my head, that sounded like the war general in Solovet talking not the kind, loving man that Vikus was; he would never allow us to go by ourselves if he could help. "Nothing in the prophecy forbids you to come." Luxa rationalized, surprise clear on her and her cousin's faces.

"We were not meant to be here, and we have a war to fight in Regalia." Solovet cut in, her voice sure and final.

"You can't leave." I exclaimed again. "We need you, we need someone who knows what they're doing."

I quickly glanced over to the royals in case I had insulted them but they either didn't care or notice the jab as they waited for their grandparents' next response. I suddenly saw the young kids in them, their tough exteriors pulled away at the idea of being left alone to deal with the threat that took both their parents away without the protection of the only adults left in their lives.

"We are not leaving you stranded in the Dead Land." Vikus said softly.

I frowned. "So you're going to draw us a map?" I'm sure the comment sounded pompous or sarcastic but I honestly felt like we were being thrown to the dogs, or rats.

"No, I have arranged a guide for you." Vikus grew a small smile, happy with the idea.

"A guide?" Henry and Luxa both echoed the words a bit tentative.

Vikus opened his mouth again only to be cut off by a new voice. "Well, I prefer to think of myself as a legend, but I suppose 'guide' will do." The darkness hid the owner but they sounded but exhausted, impatient, and disgusted all at once.

I turned on one of my flashlights and directed it toward where I heard the voice come from. Leaning against the tunnel entryway was a giant rat, he had a diagonal scar across his face and it only took me a second to distinguish him as the same one Vikus had knocked into the river when we were attacked; the one that pointed me out to kill.

* * *

 **Not super eventful, but sometimes they aren't you know. Next chapter has some major Henry/Gregor enemy and friend action, which I really loved writing and was really looking forward to. The one thing I missed in the original book was more real, dramatic interaction between those two.**

 **Hope to here from you all in reviews.**

 **Always yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello all, welcome again to the newest chapter. I've gotten so many lovely reviews and I love hearing from everyone. You don't even know how much a simple 'you are doing great!' does for my day.**

 **Today's quote came from my softball coach: "Always remember you are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, and SMARTER than you think." -Unknown.**

 **Feel free to submit one!**

 **As always, I don't own the Underland Chronicles.**

* * *

Henry jumped to his feet in a second, pulling his sword out of its sheath and charging the rat with a shout. I wasn't sure what put my body in motion, but suddenly I was sprinting after him, catching up about half the distance between the fire and the unnaturally calm rat. Putting a little extra into my last few steps, I rounded in front of the deranged royal.

I lowered my shoulder and halted Henry in his tracks, in my head I imagined a professional football announcer being impressed with my form as Henry gasped for air, dropping his sword and grasping at my shirt. "Henry, don't!" I grunted, struggling to free myself from the strong grip.

I managed to shove him off and Henry staggered back, one hand spread over his chest where I jammed my shoulder. "Move, Overlander!" He wheezed, picking up his forgotten sword and pointing the tip at my chest. "Gnawers are not to be trusted, if I do not kill it, it will kill us."

Luxa and the rest of the party had rose to their feet at some point in our altercation, but no one stepped forward. "Henry!" Luxa called, her voice was stern but her expression confused, like she wasn't quite sure she actually wanted to stop her cousin.

"You won't get anywhere killing everything on sight alone." I countered, keeping my eyes on his shaking sword arm but not raising my arms in the classic surrender pose, the last thing I wanted the stuck up royal to think is that if he points a sharp object at my chest, I'll bow down to him. I've seen insects and rodents in the Overland more frightening than him, certainly less entitled. "If you do, you're no better than them!"

Henry shook his head and took another step toward me so the tip of his weapon just grazed my shirt. "Warrior or not, I will cut you down if you do not move, Overlander."

I guess my set expression and silence was enough to convince him because in the next moment, Henry pulled his arm back, preparing to hack at me with his sword. I lunged forward at the opportunity, jabbing my fingers into the space between his clavicle and shoulder. Henry shouted in surprise and at the sharp intrusion, releasing his weapon to clutch his throbbing shoulder.

I picked the sword up with my left hand, holding the grip so the blade pointed behind me, instead of at Henry and avoiding the way he had been threatening me before. I wasn't trying to terrorize him, just keep him from doing anything stupid or that we would all regret.

"You need to calm down." I told him, holding my free hand between us, forcing myself to do the same and not snap at him for acting so stupid. "Sit down and listen to what the rat has to say."

The royal glared at me like he was trying to incinerate me on the spot but when I failed to disappear, begrudgingly did as I instructed. I relaxed my tight hold on the sword hilt, allowing the tip to touch the stone floor, turning to the smirking-could rats smirk?-rat who hadn't even bothered to move a muscle.

It stood, leaning against the cave entrance with its arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face. "Well, that was quite a show, think you're all that do you, _warrior_?" It sneered sarcastically as it passed me.

"Not by that." I grumbled, a saucy ' _you're welcome!'_ running through my thoughts at his lack of thank you.

I followed it to the fire where everyone had retaken their seats, Henry continued to rub his shoulder while glaring at me and rat through the fire, it didn't seem to care and I sure as hell didn't care that the poor royal brat was mad at me. "Take care, lad, or you shall end up like me: stripped of any respectable rank and warming your shabby old hide at the fire of your enemies." It nodded at the graying diplomat. "Vikus."

"Ripred," Vikus smiled at the distraction. "We have just begun to dine, will you join us?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He reclined next to Solovet, flicking his tail around absentmindedly behind him. "My dear Solovet, how kind of you to fly out to greet me, with a war going on none the less."

"I would not have missed an opportunity to break bread with you, Ripred." Solovet charmed, handing him a block of dried meat. They exchanged a few jabs about a past battle somewhere I wasn't familiar with and sounded fictional as the rest of us stared on in uncomfortable silence.

Ripred leaned against his tail like it was a backrest and shifted his gaze on me. I realized I was still standing, Henry's sword pointed at the ground and loose in my hand. "What are you waiting for boy, and invitation? So this is our warrior, huh." His voice changed suddenly, his eyes bore into mine as I was surprised to find the complexity behind them; the unemotional beady, black eyes seemed to be smart, dangerous, and full of pain all at the same time. This rat wasn't like Fangor or Shed or the other rats that attacked at the river, and for the first time I felt uneasy. If I fought this rat, I wouldn't stand a chance, I would lose, and I would die; no question. "How very much like your father you are."

I swallowed. "You've met my father?" Boots ran to my side, requesting food and I was forced to break the soul searching gaze this rat had trapped me in. I sat, criss crossing my legs so Boots could take her favorite seat in my lap, handing her meat and cheese but holding the cake so she could have some kind of desert.

As she ate, Boots finally noticed the new individual in the circle. She finished chewing and smiled at Ripred. "Hi! Hi, you! Are you a mouse?"

The rat rolled its eyes from his reclined position. "Yes, I'm a mouse. Squeak, squeak." He bared his teeth with more emphasis than he needed to, tearing into his chuck of beef off the bone dramatically.

I frowned when Boots leaned against my chest in shock, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a squeeze. "Don't do that, she's only a child."

The rat shrugged like it could care less. "From what I hear, she has more guts than the lot of you combined, but I guess courage only counts when you can count. I'm presuming the rest of you can count and getting your courage back any minute now."

I glanced at Luxa, Mareth, and Henry who had moved away noticeably, trying to keep their distance. Even the bats were fidgeting nervously, open and closing their wings like they didn't know if they wanted to stay or take off. Vikus cleared his throat, speaking up. "I did not prepare them, Ripred."

"Clearly," He snorted, finishing the meat on the bone and I expected him to throw it away or maybe into the fire, but he started to scrape his teeth against the bone. I tried not to flinch at the chalkboard and nails noise. "My arrival is obviously an unexpected pleasure."

Vikus turned to the group, waving his hand toward the rat. "Meet you Ripred the gnawer. He shall be joining the quest as your guide."

At the revelation, a sharp gasp came from the other side of the fire. I gulped as a shiver went over my skin, I had no previous experience with rats and I was unsure how this would work out, forget how Henry and Luxa were feeling. I tried to meet Luxa's gaze but she seemed frozen, wide eyes trained on her grandfather. When she spoke, her voice was rough with hostility. "No, he shall not. We do not travel with rats."

If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have thought it was funny she had used the 'Overland' name for the mammal, but I kept my mouth shut as Vikus sighed at her tone. "'The Prophecy of Gray' requires it Luxa," Solovet cut in. "One gnawer beside."

Henry crossed his arms over his puffed out chest like we hadn't forgotten how I embarrassed him earlier. "Vikus, you know as well as any of us that 'beside' could mean anything. We may leave the gnawer dead 'beside' us."

Ripred scoffed, hardly pressured by the idea of Henry killing him. "Perhaps, but having witnessed your last 'attack', I doubt it." The rat moved on from the bone, to my relief, and started with a block of cheese.

Luxa sat up straighter, frowning at the insult to her relative. "We have killed five gnawers since midday, I believe we are capable."

"You mean the fools I picked for frailty and incompetence? Yes, bravo, your Highness. It was a masterful account of combat skill." Ripred rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm but quickly turned dark. "Do not flatter yourself, you have yet to fight a _rat_."

Silence came over the two royals, Vikus and Solovet lowered their gazes to the fire. Mareth spoke up, a bit unsure but still bravely to defend his nobles. "They killed Fangor and Shed."

Ripred spread his fingers in defense. "Well, I stand corrected then. Fangor and Shed were excellent fighters on the rare occasion they were sober. However, I expect they were outnumbered and thrown by the arrival of the warrior there." He rested his hands on his stomach and looked around the fire, eventually landing on me. "And what say you, warrior, do you refuse to travel with me as well?"

I met his eyes, they mocked me but I stood my ground and stared back. "I'm here to find my dad, if Vikus believes you can do that, then you have a lot to prove."

Ripred threw his head back and roared with laughter. I rolled my eyes, reminded why I already loathed rats despite the few days I've spent in the Underland. Vikus ignored the blubbering rat and asked the bats if they would continue. "Aurora and I go with our bonds." Ares gave a low response, his head bowed reluctantly.

The old man nodded to them and finally turned to his grandchildren who had been staring into the fire, avoiding him. "What say you, Luxa?" Vikus asked her gently.

"What can I say? Our people look to me to lead them, how can I return and tell them I withdrew from the quest when their survival hangs in the balance?" She shook her head bitterly. "Do not offer me a choice when you know none exists."

"This is why he times it so." Henry added, glaring at the ground.

Vikus nodded, his face somber at their words but he tried not to let it show. "It is decided then. Mareth, come, we are needed at home." Solovet stood and began packing. The guard stood, clearly troubled, but obeyed. He started to make packs of food for each of us when I pulled Vikus aside.

"How long have you had this planned out?" I asked, trying to keep my emotions in check and my voice low so the other questers didn't hear.

Vikus thought for a second. "A year or two, but of course, it was all dependent on your arrival."

I sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I do not believe in giving people more information than they can handle."

I met his eyes, they were dull compared to Henry or Luxa's due to his age, but held so much knowledge and pain. "I can handle it, Vikus, believe me."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I believe you, Gregor, you are well seasoned; I see this now, but Luxa and Henry could not accept this so easily. I may have told you if we had finished our discussion of 'The Prophecy of Gray'. No doubt would you have asked and I have well told you."

I rubbed a hand over my face just trying to absorb and understand his words. "Let's finish it now." I pulled the paper out of my pocket and flattened it out, if this was the last time I got to talk to him before facing whatever Sandwich had in store for us, I wanted to know as much as I could. I found the stanza we stopped at and continued reading.

 _One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead._ "So Ripred is the gnawer, and my dad the one lost up ahead." Vikus nodded his agreement so I kept going. _And eight will be left when we count up the dead_. I paused at that line, not liking the sound of it. "What does that mean?"

"If you add all of the players in the prophecy: two over, two under, two fliers, two crawlers, two spinners, one gnawer, and one lost; there is twelve." He frowned, continuing with a heavy voice. "By the end of the quest, only eight will remain alive so four will die, but no one knows which four."

"Oh." I stared at the words speechless, it was impossible for me to imagine anyone in the party not coming back. Well, maybe except Ripred.

"But eight remain alive, Gregor." Vikus spoke softly but not because he was trying to keep our conversation a secret, it was strange to have the older man care so much after only knowing me for such a short time; I never met my grandpa, but I imagine this would be kinda what it would be like to have one. "And perhaps a world saved."

I nodded, shaking off the feeling and forcing myself to read the last line. _The fate of the eight is contained in his hands, so bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps, as life may be death and death life again reaps._ "I don't understand."

"Nor do I, or anyone who reads it. Sandwich was very cryptic and I believe we may never fully understand it until the moment it comes to action." He took a labored breath and let it out silently, squeezing my shoulder. "It is not pleasant or easy, but it is essential what I-what my people-ask of you. It is vital to you to find your father, necessary for us if we are to survive."

I felt like I was in a daze, staring at a point behind his head as I processed everything. Vikus was trusting me to save his city, but not just that, the whole human population of the Underland. I met his gaze again and saw the unspoken request, to save his granddaughter so Regalia didn't lose its whole royal family, but also because he couldn't handle losing her too.

Vikus was called by his wife when everything was packed up but he turned back to me, his face strained and I finally understood he didn't want to leave us. If he was trusting Ripred to keep us alive, the rat must be really something. "Look after her." He said, glancing at Luxa where she and Henry stood by Solovet with pouts and crossed arms. "If this is hard for you, know it is torture for Luxa."

I nodded, suddenly our roles shifted and I was reassuringly clasping his shoulder. "We've got a good group, Vikus." He let out a breath and smiled at me, heading over to his bat.

Mareth handed me my part of the food, climbing on his bond. "Fly you high, all of you." He said, his voice tight and stiff.

Vikus walked to where Henry and Luxa stood several paces away from the leaving party, but they didn't look at him as he approached. "I would not part this way, but I understand your anger. Perhaps one day you will find yourselves able to forgive me." He stood silent for almost a minute waiting for them to say something but neither of them did. Eventually he turned away from them, his face heavy as he mounted Euripides.

I frowned, as much as I hated this situation and was agitated that Vikus didn't prepare us earlier, he didn't deserve to be ignored by his only remaining family; the only reminder he had of his deceased children. Luxa met my disapproving gaze that said what I desperately wanted to scream, _he is your grandpa, you may die never saying I love you again._ "Don't let him leave like this," I muttered to the two of them, quiet yet loud. "Four of us aren't coming back, and even if you do, you'll regret not saying good bye. Trust me."

I left them with the dark idea and walked up to Vikus, shaking his lowered hand. "Fly you high, Gregor the Overlander."

My mind raced with familiarity as I said goodbye to Vikus; being mad at him for leaving us, abandoning us with a previously thought bloodthirsty beast as a saving grace, with no idea what this stupid cryptic prophecy was suppose to mean; it felt like when I found out my dad was missing. All those stupid things that I had been mad at him about disappeared and all I thought of was him taking me out on the roof to teach me the constellations, him taking me to a baseball game, trying to teach me how to play the saxophone. "Fly you high, Vikus." I told him, a small smile breaking through. "Fly you high."

He let out a breath and gave me a thankful nod. Euripides flapped his wings and prepared to take off down the pitch black corridor when Luxa appeared next to me. "Fly you high." She called to him and I swear I saw tears on his wrinkled cheeks. He lifted a hand in recognition, disappearing in the next few moments.

The princess stood next to me and we watched them far after we couldn't see them any longer. "Thank you." We said together. I turned my head to find hers still directed into the open tunnel. "As much as I despise this, I have lost too much in my family to not say goodbye, should it be the last time I get to do so."

I nodded. "The night I was going to run away, I hugged and kissed my sister, mom, and grandma good night. I couldn't stand the idea of them regretting that they never told me they loved me one last time, or they didn't get to say goodbye. That's how we all felt when my dad went missing. Why didn't we remember to say I love you or good night or anything so wherever he was, he knew we still cared." I took a deep breath and let it out, itching at my eyes in case any tears had squeaked out.

Luxa looked at the ground. "You have been here for three days yet you have taught me more lessons than Vikus in three years."

Before I could say anything, she was already on the other side of the cave talking to Aurora. I shook my head and returned to the fire. "We may as well get some rest." Ripred said while yawning so it sounded more like 'we my as wet sa ret' but I got the gist. "We will start fresh in a few hours."

I pulled out the blanket and waved Boots over. "Are we leaving?" She asked pointing to where Vikus and them had left.

"They left, we're going to sleep here, baby. Bed time." I laid down and she curled up to me without much more fuss. I was taken by momentary surprise when Temp and Tick came and flanked us, feeling oddly like they were guarding us. I wondered what they would do if Ripred actually tried to attack us, but shook it off because anything they did would be brave.

I never thought I'd feel comforted by sleeping next to giant cockroaches.

Before I drifted off, I looked to where the royals had remained just outside of the fire's glow. Luxa continued to stand so Aurora wrapped her wings around her, surrounding the girl in golden fur. Ares pressed his back against hers while Henry laid at his feet. I rolled my eyes at their 'precautions', if Ripred wanted to kill us he could probably do it easily.

It was weird that as soon as I thought it, I relaxed, it was almost like the thought that I had no choice but to trust him made it easier to do so.

A loud slap jarred me awake and I immediately covered Boots until I saw it was just Ripred hitting his tail against the ground. "Come on." He growled, obviously not a morning person. "Time to get moving, feed yourselves and let's go."

I sat up and stretched while Boots laid on the blanket, she was either still asleep somehow or stubbornly pretending to be; either way I let her be. I sat down next to my pack to check what we had for food. Mostly it was smoked meat, bread, and sweet potatoes, about enough to last everyone three days if we were careful about rationing. Then there was Ripred, who probably expected us to feed him and he ate like a pig, so more like two days. "What do you want to do about food?" I ask to anyone.

"Luxa and I do not serve food, we are royalty." Henry huffed arrogantly with his chin tilted up.

I resisted the urge to snarl at his behavior, I was so over his royalty stick. "Well you two will get pretty hungry if you're waiting for me to serve you."

"You tell him, boy!" Ripred laughed. "Tell him your country fought a war so you wouldn't have to answer to kings and queens."

I stopped in disbelief. "How'd you know that?" Luxa shot me her confused tilted head look at the rat's words.

"Oh, I know many things about the Overland that our _friends_ do not. I have spend lots of time there among your books and papers." Ripred crossed his arms and almost looked proud.

"You can read?"

"Most rats can, our frustration comes when we are unable to hold a pen to write." His tone changed from informative to bossy again. "Now move, eat or don't eat, but let's get going."

I rolled my eyes and went to start making food for Boots and I when Luxa came to sit next to me. "What?" I asked, trying not to let my agitation with the rat reflect on her.

"How do we… prepare food?" She asked, shifting and obviously struggling with the new idea. "Henry and I have never actually made our own food."

I blinked at her, she could cut down rats without a second thought but she couldn't make a sandwich? Even at nine when my mom was working late and my dad had some teacher thing to do, I could make dinner for my sister. Nothing special, just macaroni and cheese from the box or scrambled eggs in the morning, basically what my mom was confident I couldn't burn down the house with. "Well, I can show you how to make a sandwich, it's not hard."

Luxa brightened at the familiar word but remained confused. "A sandwich? Is it named in honor of Bartholomew of Sandwich?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, it's a really old snack. Here, it's two slices of bread with meat or cheese between them, not too thick." I explained, handing her the knife as I did the same with the bread. I was impressed when I got eighteen slices out of the one loaf and Luxa did a good job with the meat, but I guess she was use to using blades.

We worked together to compose nine sandwiches and as she took four over to her cousin and their bats, she flashed me a please smile at the accomplishment. I stacked the other five for Ripred and the roaches, somehow I had the feeling that she just wasn't ready to take that step yet.

Boots woke right up when I shook her, promising food, and started into the morsal hungrily. Temp and Tick nodded their thanks when I gave them theirs. I went to Ripred and offered him the fourth. "For me?" He mocked. "How thoughtful of you, I'm sure the rest of the party would be happy to see me starve."

I shrugged, honestly indifferent to that actually happening. "I need you to find my dad, and if that means making an extra sandwich, whatever."

"Quite true." He said, throwing back the entire sandwich in one gulp. "Glad we have this understanding. Mutual need is a strong bond, more than friendship and love."

"Rats love?" I droned sarcastically, not really expecting an answer but not at all surprised by the one he gave.

"Oh yes, we love ourselves very much." He returned with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and went back to Boots who had just finished her sandwich. "Greggy, can I have more?" She asked, looking to my sandwich. I was hungry, but I had gone much longer than this without food so I tore the food in half and handed it to her.

Breakfast, if you could call it that with no sunrise, was done in less than two minutes and we packed everything up. Henry was climbing Ares when Ripred stopped him. "Don't bother, you can't fly where we are going." His tail flicked towards the tunnel, it was barely six feet high and less than three wide. "And give that to the Overlander, he doesn't seem to keen to giving you the weapon back."

Henry glared at the rat as the removed the leather sheath that went to the sword I had taken earlier. Honestly, I had forgotten about it, grabbing the sword from next to my pack and holding it in my right hand subconsciously. He all but shoved the scabbard into my chest and stomped back to Ares. I almost laughed at how childish he was being, probably not use to people taking his things.

I worked the band of leather through my short's belt loops and secured it, slipping the sword comfortably into place on my left hip.

Redirected my attention back to the tunnel, I noticed the bats twitching at the idea of going in. "What about the fliers?" As unhappy as I was about heading into a dark, narrow space with Ripred, that's where my dad was, so I gritted my teeth.

Ripred shrugged indifferently to the issue. "You will figure it out."

"Can you walk?" I asked Ares, they had feet but they were short and I imagine they didn't walk places too often with those wings.

"Not long. Not far." He purred back.

"We'll have to carry you then."

"Ride you, fliers, ride you?" Temp asked.

Aurora open and closed her wings in protest. "Fliers do not ride crawlers."

I frowned at them, they were just like their riders. "Why not, they rode on you without complaining even though they were scared out of their minds." I was getting tired of everyone always picking on the roaches, they did nothing to hinder the quest but still took all the flack. "I have Boots and all the food, Henry and Luxa can't carry you by themselves, so if you still don't want to take the crawlers' offer, you could always ask Ripred for a ride."

Luxa folded her arms and any sign of our cooperation up to this point disappeared as I spoke illy towards her bond. "Do not use that tone with them, they do not sneer at the crawlers, it is the smallness of the tunnel; fliers do not like places they cannot spread their wings."

"Yeah, well not all of us have been having much fun flying hundreds of feet in the air either." I snapped back, getting dizzy at the idea. Luxa's face deflated as our conversation crossed her mind. "I know it's hard, but I'm sure the whole trip won't be like this, right, Ripred?"

The rat flicked his tail the way he did when he could care less about what we were arguing about. "Oh, surely, not the _whole_ way. Can we start now? The war will be over before you decide our travel plans."

"We will ride with the crawlers." Ares muttered. The three of us worked to get the two fliers situated on the cockroaches' backs. They ended up having to lay face down while using their claws to cling to the roaches' smooth shells. It did not look the least bit comfortable.

I took Boots's hand and nodded to the rat. "Lead the way."

Ripred threw his arms up. "Finally." He started into the blackness of the tunnel, Henry went next with a torch, I went next with my other hand on the sword, followed by the bats who went single file, with Luxa in the back with her sword drawn.

Boots began fidgeting with boredom so I gave her a flashlight to keep her busy. It was horrible in the tunnel as we grew further and further from the entrance. It was cramped and smelled like the air had been stagnant for years with no fresh supply. It got even worse when some awful liquid that smelled like sulfur dropped from the ceiling, hitting everyone and running on my hard hat.

"Icky." Boots supplied what I was thinking. "Icky."

"Yeah, little girl, icky, icky, icky." I agreed, hoping this tunnel wasn't too long. It reminded me of solitary confinement in prisons where inmates went crazy. I glanced back at Luxa who didn't look too pleased either.

"What does this mean, 'icky'?" She asked.

"Um, gross, nasty, foul." I shrugged.

She nodded with a disgusted sniff. "Yes, that describes the rats' land well."

I nodded and turned forward again. We stumbled along for hours while the foul liquid continued to splash down periodically. I knew Boots had to be getting hit too but she was surprisingly calm about it, I still worried about her getting sick from being cold and wet; I had experienced that enough times myself to know when it would rear its head.

Ripred brought us into a small cave where the same fluid ran down the walls like water. We were all soaked with it and miserable, the bats were so stiff that Henry and Luxa had to help them off the crawlers and straighten out their wings.

The rat poked his nose in the air and took a deep wiff. "There, that has done marvels to conceal your odor." He nodded, satisfied.

"You mean we walked all that way just to smell like rotten eggs?" I groaned, if I lived, this smell wouldn't come out for weeks even with constant bathing.

He nodded like it was nothing. "Oh yes, it was quite necessary. As a group, you were highly obnoxious."

I sighed and let it go, way too tired to start an argument with the rat. Luxa and I handed out food and we ate in silence. Ripred swallowed his in one bite again and I was surprised he didn't complain of stomach pains yet.

We were packing up again after lunch when all the bats suddenly tensed up. "Spinners." Aurora informed tightly.

Ripred remained nonchalant. "Yes, they've been following us ever since we started. I can't smell how many here with the water. I wonder what they could want." He stood and looked to Luxa and I. "Are you any good with that, boy?"

I covered Henry's sword with my hand. "I have good instincts."

He nodded and flicked his tail. "Three point arc." He pointed a claw at me to stand just behind and next to him, I did without much thought, but Luxa faltered. "This is no time to test my authority, pup!" He snarled at her. She unsheathed her sword and met my eyes. I pressed my mouth into a line and nodded, trying to look like I knew what I was doing. Reluctantly, she mirrored me on Ripred's left, finishing the small arc between everyone else and the entrance we had just arrived through. The fliers took a position behind us to further protect Henry, Boots, and the roaches.

I tried to hear something, anything other than flowing water, but it was impossible. I would be able to hear an army of spiders right? The sword became heavy in my hands as I raised it up to mimic Luxa's fighting stance, the weapon helped calm my nerves.

We all stood deathly still, even Boots didn't question the sudden shift.

I was wound so tight that I flinched when two lone spinners suddenly burst from the darkness. The larger orange spider looked fine but the smaller brown spider it carried on its back had a gnarly cut on its stomach that oozed a weird blue liquid I couldn't help but scrunch my nose at.

The brown one rolled of its friend's back with a large effort and started rubbing its arms over its chest to speak. "Vikus sends us. Gnawers attacked our webs, many spinners lost. We two...we join the quest."

* * *

 **So I tried to fit the Henry/Gregor friend part in but this is already 5k+ so it'll just have to wait until next time, but you got a little bit of the enemy part!**

 **I hope everyone is having a good week and year. I'm trying to keep stress to a minimum with softball and school, but sometimes its good to talk through it. I'm always open to talk through pm if anyone needs an ear :) y'all mean a lot to me!**

 **Always yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome back, hope everyone is doing well. This week's quote means a lot to me in my own journey. My passion is traveling to places to help people, recently I had to turn down another trip to Honduras to build clean water filters and I've been thinking about it a lot.**

 **"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you chose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And you're the one who'll decide where to go." Dr. Seuss.**

 **As always, I don't own the Underland Chronicles.**

* * *

I released my tense muscles from the crouch, watching in shock and awe as the spider spasmed once, rolling onto its back as its legs curled, and it took its final breath. The blue blood like liquid poured onto the stone floor. I sheathed the heavy sword and shook my head. "We're all finally here."

Henry frowned at the spinner's body but I couldn't tell if it was somber or just agitation. "What do you mean?"

"The prophecy, Sandwich was right: we're all together, at least for a few seconds." My hand crept into my pocket where Narissa's neat handwriting spelled it all out.

Ripred nodded. "Eight will be left when we count up the dead. One down, three to go." He poked the spider's body a few times with the tip of his tail, he didn't sound elated, but certainly far from sympathetic.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "Please stop doing that." I couldn't bare opening them and seeing the lifeless body sitting in front of me, it just ripped open the already agitated wound from Jimmy's death that had been gashed free after talking to Luxa.

"We can't pretend to be attached to this spinner, we didn't even know its name; except maybe you." Ripred nodded to the other spider.

It was easier to concentrate on the living orange spider as it spoke with its legs. "Treflex. I am she called Gox."

"Well, Gox, our food is limited for the journey, none of us will think less of you if you dined on Treflex." Ripred said sounding as close to supportive I imagine he ever gets.

I barely blinked as the spider jumped on its old friend, digging her fangs into its lifeless body. "Spiders are not squeamish or sentimental." Ripred said from next to me, sparing a glance to where a horrified Henry and Luxa were purposely avoiding the scene. "What about you boy, aren't you feeling a bit ill from this?"

I took a moment as the sounds of the spider drinking its friend's guts up filled the space, taking a breath before responding with a dull tone. "Nothing disgusts me anymore."

The rat hummed in acknowledgement. "It seems your experience in the Overland wasn't as cheery as our royal friends seem to think."

"Not by a long shot." I muttered sadly, breaking away from him to make sure Boots wouldn't see the display of cannibalism. Good thing it didn't take long for Gox to finish up and we were all sitting around the fire while the spider retold her story. Apparently a whole army of rats had attacked the spinners' land, they held them off but not before severe losses. The only good thing from the ordeal was the rats had also lost large numbers.

Vikus was the one that found Gox and Treflex and sent them on a path to find us. "Why do the gnawers attack us?" She asked at the end.

Ripred shook his head. "I don't know, King Gorger may have launched a full scale attack on the Underland, or they could have caught word of two Overlanders headed this way. Did any of them mention the warrior from 'The Prophecy of Gray'?"

"There was only death, no words."

Ripred nodded but I couldn't tell if he was relieved or worried by it. "We have no time to waste, this attack isn't a good omen for your father, but now we don't have to free spinners from Gorger's prisons, that would have taken much longer."

I swallowed hard as goosebumps formed at the rat's sentence. "Why?"

"Vikus has done incredibly well to disguise your arrival as the warrior, no rat save me has lived to tell of it, but word of humans bringing two Overlanders to the spinners will make them suspicious. We're lucky no rat has identified you, still, we must move now." We all moved to pack up but I couldn't help but feel, no matter how rough or mean Ripred wants us to think he is, he added that last bit to make us, if not just me, feel a little better.

The next section of tunnels were large enough for Aurora and Ares to fly but still too close for riders to fit, but at least there was no fight this time. Boots rode on Temp's back when she got tired of walking so I let him crawl along with her where he pleased, slowing to meet Luxa bringing up the back.

"It would be more wise for you to flank the gnawer," She droned, but her voice let on how relieved she was for the distraction. "It is bad positioning to have the only weapons in the back of our formation."

"Tell me how you really feel." I nudged her shoulder, trying to get her crack a smile.

She sighed, sheathing her sword. "I highly dislike being on foot for so long."

I hummed, glancing up at the bats that fluttered above us; Ares above Henry and Aurora over Luxa. "So use to flying?"

Luxa exhaled heavily. "My parents' deaths made me feel unsafe on the ground, Aurora saved me from myself by spending every moment of our time in the air, it is why we fly so well together; I trust her with my life because she has already rescued me from my darkest times."

I swallowed hard, my chest heavy with her story. "That's how you bonded earlier than normal?"

It looked like she didn't want to talk about this anymore, but she continued. "Vikus convinced the council to allow us to bond early, after I was not so afraid. I always knew he loved me, that he holds me closer now with the pass of my mother, and I am grateful you reminded me of this before he took flight back to Regalia."

I smiled softly at her, still having a hard time understanding her pain, but I could understand the pain of not saying goodbye. "I know a lot about that, and the one thing I've learned from that particular subject is you have to take full advantage of the ones you love before they're gone."

"I have a slightly different ideal on my light now," She mused, the slight lift in her spirit fading again just as fast. "I tired quickly of living in constant fear, so I made the decision to wake every day like it would be my last. If I do not hold on to time, I am not so afraid of losing it, and if I do make it as far to sleep, it is like I have cheated death; do you see?"

I nodded, unable to answer, it had to be one of the saddest things I've heard, the first being my own ideology. I refused to allow myself to think of the future. Before I even made it out of Virginia, I constantly thought of how my mother, sister, and grandma would react when they woke up without me; if I could back, how my family would respond, would they be mad or just happy to see me? "Yeah, my whole life."

Luxa glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. "What does this mean?"

I sighed. "I told myself I wouldn't think about the future, it only plagued my mind with 'what if's. What if I went back home, what if my family turns me away." I shook off the anxiety and moved on. "Are you still scared?"

She shrugged, looking forward and keeping her head up. "Sometimes, but here is no worse than Regalia."

"You're afraid of being on the ground in your own city?"

Luxa exhaled silently but her posture slumped a bit as if she was disappointed in herself. "It is my city now, but at one time it was my parents', sometimes I feel-"

"As riveting as your conversation is," Ripred's sarcasm cut through her sentence from the front of the group. "Since the whole rat nation is after us, perhaps we should continue in silence?"

I glanced back at the royal only to find her sword drawn and expression set, anything she may have said to finally open up was lost at the interruption. I mentally cursed in frustration at the rat for picking the absolute worst time to speak up. Luxa prompted me to return to the middle of our pack and I reluctantly obeyed.

I wish we could have kept talking, Luxa was decent to talk to normally, as long as Henry didn't mess it up, but when she was away from prying eyes of her family she was friendlier, more receptive, and certainly more affectionate. I guess Ripred was right though, we should definitely keep it down if we wanted to remain stealthy.

Despite his own demand, Ripred began to gnaw at the bone he had saved from lunch, and along with the taps of our shoes, it was the only sound in the tunnel. Boots ended up dozing off right on Temp's shell and I wish I could curl up on the giant cockroaches' back too.

We didn't stop until everyone was about to literally drop from exhaustion, but at least this cavern was dry and had drinkable water. Luxa and I busied ourselves with handing out our food. I frowned at how fast it was diminishing.

Before I could share my own food, the roaches forfeited their food to Boots. "Let them," Ripred droned. "Crawlers can live a month or more with no food, and don't bother feeding Gox."

We started to settle in for the night but the room was cold. I called Boots over to replace her wet clothes with a new set but I noticed immediately her skin was clammy and she wasn't as energetic as before. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped her body several times in my blanket in attempt to warm her up, the last thing I wanted was her to get totally sick. I tried to steal my nerves, Boots was only eight, she needed our mom who would know exactly what to do; something like juice and cough syrup to make it all better. My dad would know what to do, hopefully.

I sighed, pulling the girl's small body close to mine. "I'll take first watch." I told the rat, moving close to the fire to help Boots. He nodded, casting my sister a glance as if he understood my worry.

I sat by the kindling for probably five minutes when I noticed a figure moving next to Luxa, it maneuvered around sleeping bodies until it came to take a seat next to me. I glanced next to me, surprised to see Henry. "You should get some sleep." I told him.

We sat in silence for several moments before he spoke. "Is what you spoke of true?"

"Yes, you need sleep for the rest of the journey." I resisted the urge to laugh.

He shook his head. "When you and Luxa spoke upon Aurora, was this story true?"

I sighed, flashing back to the deep conversation the royal and I shared earlier. I didn't want to talk about my old friend with Henry, or my irrational fear of something he considered an easy, everyday thing. "Yeah, that was true." I muttered, playing with the fabric that surrounded Boots.

Henry nodded but was clearly having a hard time trying to find something to say. "You watched him die?"

"Yeah." I tightened my hold around Boots, needing to close my eyes for a moment.

He was quiet for another moment before continuing. "And this is why you fear flying?"

I sighed because it was the same question Luxa had asked. "It's not _flying_ that I have an issue with, it's what happens when you're suddenly _not_ flying anymore, you know, like if you fell off Ares or a building; you're safe until you aren't, and being up high magnifies that fear for me."

"Yet you leaped off of Euripides to save my cousin." He retorted. "You were very brave to attack Queen Wevox with your spray weapon."

I nodded but didn't comment, I was more than ready to move on from this topic. "If I can help someone, I try to force my own fears out of the way, because no one did that for me."

"What was it like, living alone in the Overland?"

I almost laughed because of how similar his inquiries were to Luxa's. "It was hard, I know you guys say you have to fight everyday to survive, and you have giant rats and spiders where in the Overland they're much smaller, but in all honesty, the Overland is such a far more dangerous place."

For a second I fought with myself if I wanted to go through with what popped into my mind but quickly handed Boots into his lap and pulled up the hem of my shirt on my left hip to reveal just one of many gunshot scars. "The people are a million times worse, just as ruthless as the rats if not more, and the weapons do much more damage. If you're not rich or royalty in the Overland, you're basically human trash."

I accepted Boots back from the stunned royal. "How many of your battle scars are from such weapons?"

I pointed to my right calf and rolled my sleeve up to show another on my left bicep just under the bandages from my shoulder. "These three, but I couldn't go to a hospital for treatment so I had to wash them out everyday in the river and hope they didn't get infected. I found old shirts and clothes in the trash that I ripped up to act as bandages. There was an old army veteran that knew how to suture wounds and he used sewing thread to close up this one," I gestured to my hip which was no doubt the worse of all my injuries. "He saved my life, I'm sure of it."

Henry stared into the fire in silence for a long time, I could see the gears turning in his head as his face expressed confusion and awe. After a few minutes I decided to ask the burning question I had been wondering about for a while. "How old were you, when your parents died?"

He seemed surprised by the sudden turn in questioning but straightened his posture to answer. "Eight, nearly twelves years have passed since then."

"Do you ever...have a hard time remembering them? Like the sound of their voice or their smile?" I prodded, happy that he seemed to understand the story-for-story thing I was going for.

The royal nodded. "My father is no more than a shadow for me now, but I can remember my mother holding me, singing to me at night, though even this is becoming very blurry to me."

I took a breath, nodding in acknowledgment. "My dad is so fuzzy, I can't see his smile, eyes, all I can remember is him playing the saxophone at night. My mom...she's as clear as day. I realized that when we lose someone unexpectedly, everything about them that we hang onto after they died are hard to remember because we don't think to look closely at it before hand, but when we leave someone on purpose, we foresee being away and try to take everything in that we can so when we're gone we have something to hang onto."

Henry agreed, looking from the fire to Boots's sleeping form. "You never met her?"

I shook my head with a heavy heart, gently pushing the little girl's curly brown locks from her face. "My mom was pregnant with her when I left, I heard her talking to my grandma about naming her after her, that's how I knew it was my sister."

"She looks like you." He offered with a small smile.

I reciprocated and nodded back to where he had been sleeping next to Luxa, Ares, and Aurora. "Go get some sleep, I imagine Ripred will push us hard again tomorrow."

He stood with an exhausted sigh. "Luxa will wake soon to take guard, rest you well, Overlander." I repeated the saying and relaxed against my bag, pulling my sleeping sister closer to my chest.

True to his word, Luxa woke up an hour or two later, just as my exhaustion started to get the better of me. I nodded my appreciation to her before she returned to her bond across the fire and I allowed my heavy eyelids to finally drag me into unconsciousness.

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 **I'm so sorry for this chapter taking so long, the beginning was hard to push through not for lack of trying, but I hope you enjoyed it. I ran the Henry/Gregor conversation through my head probably a million times in a million different ways, so I hope this version did what I wanted in your eyes.**

 **I hope to hear from everyone in the reviews, and I'll work hard to get the next chapter our sooner!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi all, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I sustained a concussion during softball practice (life lesson: catch the ball), and it's been hard for me to focus and my athletic trainer also severely limited the time I was allowed to be on the computer since apparently screen time doesn't let your brain heal quickly.**

 **Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and here's today's update!**

 **"Be strong because things will get better. It may be stormy now, but it never rains forever." -Unknown**

 **I do not own the Underland Chronicles or her characters**

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Boots was still in my arms when Ripred cracked his tail against the stone floor to wake everyone up. Some of her blanket had unraveled, but when I moved to feel her forehead, my heart fell straight to my stomach; she was burning up. "Luxa," I called, not focusing on the fact her name was the first to pop into my head. "Something's wrong, Boots is sick." I tried to get her to wake up but she just whinned something unintelligible, keeping her eyes closed.

Luxa appeared next to me with one of Solovet's medical bags, her face showed obvious worry as she too felt the forge burning inside of the little girl. "She is fevered, she has caught some pestilence from the gnawers' land." I felt the breath yanked out at me at the word, hoping to every god out there that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Luxa pulled out a bottle filled with some mystery liquid.

"Only a few drops," Ripred warned before she opened it. "She cannot handle more at her size."

I gulped, I hated not knowing what the medicine was but Boots needed help, so I nodded to Luxa and held Boots up against my chest to keep her somewhat upright for the royal to slip a few drops between her lips. We gave her a handful of water to make sure she swallowed it.

I tried to stand with her in my arms like a baby but she whimpered. "I can't carry her, it hurts her." Henry offered his blanket which we laid on Temp's back and Gox produced a web to keep her from sliding off. I sat next to the cockroach with one hand on Boots, worrying about the line of the prophecy about three quest members dying and couldn't help but feel mountains of guilt piling up that it was my fault if she didn't make it through this.

I just got my little sister back, I couldn't lose her after only a week, not to mention my mother couldn't lose her oldest and youngest child.

A hand warmed my shoulder and I almost hissed in pain as they touched the healing wound from the attack on the beach. Luxa kneeled next to me, looking at Boots for a moment. "Your dressings need to be changed, it is not clean for them to be soaked in old water."

I nodded, stiffly removing my ruined shirt and tossing it away. Luxa used one of her knives to cut the old bandages off and disappeared for several minutes. It felt good to air the scratches out after being covered for so long. "Gox wove fresh bindings." She told me but quieted as she focused on reapplying ointment and wrapping the webs around my shoulder blade.

"You must not plague your mind too much." Luxa whispered either because her mouth was right next to my ear or to hide her concern. "There are tasks ahead that require your focus in order to survive, this is the curse of the Underland."

I took a shaky breath and stood when she finished, pulling a new shirt from my pack and slipping it on; I was glad that it was getting easier to maneuver as it healed, plus the new bandage material breathed more, it was very comfortable. If Luxa was right and we'd be done walking soon, that would be really important. "I know, I know, I just…" I let out a stuttered gasp as the rest of the sentence was lost, rubbing my face into my hands hoping I wouldn't start crying in front of her. "If I lose her, it's all my fault."

Luxa surprised me when she pulled me into a hug but I welcomed it, burying my face into her shoulder and loosely wrapping my arms around her. She too had changed her clothes, though I'm not sure when or how I didn't notice until now; the warm, dry silk felt like heaven to my fried nerves. She spread one of her hands out on my back, the smallness of it amazed me.

I pulled back after a few moments so neither of us felt too awkward and thanked her quietly.

Our group started back up through the tunnels but fresh clothes, food, water, and sleep did little to lift the weariness that surrounded us. It was a sharp reminder that we were kids, on a mission to kill something, on our own, with no adults. We walked slowly, worries weighed not just me but the others down as well, even Ripred seemed down by the decline in Boots's condition.

The distraction was part of the reason we were so off guard when the rats attacked.

We entered the largest cavern by far with a deep fissure, a rough river like the one I had to direct the canoe though ran down the middle of it, a stone bridge the only link to the other side. It was obviously made by humans since Ripred said the rats could barely hold a pencil to write, let alone carve perfect stone slabs, held up by spider silk that acted like rope.

I pulled out a flashlight to get a better look when I caught the first few beady eyes of rats, sitting still on the rocks above us. "Run!" Ripred yelled, snapping at my ankles to get me moving. Luxa and Henry were on their bonds in a moment, flashing across the opening ahead of us as the roaches and I ran for our lives.

We were halfway across when I remembered Boots strapped down onto Temp's shell. "Boots!" I turned my head around but Ripred's hot breath on my neck snapped me forward again, suddenly he was propelling me the rest of the way across the bridge. The rat moved faster I ever imagined he could, dropping me hard on my good shoulder before going to help Luxa and Henry.

Luxa was hacking at the rope supports of the bridge and Henry had one of her knives, doing the same. I pulled the flashlight up again to see Gox more than halfway across and behind her, Temp struggled to run with the additional weight of my sister while Tick scurried along behind him. I scrambled to my feet. "Boots!" I called again, it did nothing to help but I was quickly sprinting to the bridge, pulling Henry's sword out as I went.

Ripred's tail hit me square in the chest when I got close, landing forcefully against the ground again, all the air in my lungs rushing out. I gasped like a fish, turning on my side to watch as Gox burst from the bridge, and she too started to attack the webs holding it up. "No!" My voice rasped harder than when I screamed at the spinners. "My sister!"

The rat hit me in the side when I tried to crawl toward them, the sword finally dropping from my hand.

Just as the roaches were within a dozen feet, the rats caught up with them. Without hesitation, Temp lead footed the speed to make it the rest of the way while Tick opened her wings and flew straight into the lead rat's face. I watched as the huge animal grabbed the crawler and crushed her head in its jaw in less than a second, but the sacrifice distracted the small army long enough for the royals and Ripred to finally cut the string support; sending the horrible sight plummeting hundreds of feet down into the churning river below.

Temp dropped from exhaustion of carrying the passed out eight year old only feet away from the cliff. I lunged to the edge with the last of my energy just to see the most syfy-looking piranha jump from the water to make a meal of the fallen rats. I rolled onto my stomach as the distance made my head spin even faster than it had been and screamed. Screamed out of frustration, anger, and distress for the roach's fearless last act in order to save my sister. Also to keep myself from throwing up.

Ripred yanked me to my feet by the back of my shirt and pushed me away from the bridge. "Move, move, move!" He yelled, just giving me enough time to scoop up the tossed sword and sheath it. We ran for a few minutes just to make sure we had put enough space between us and out of smell range of the entrance.

Another small cavern opened up and Ripred allowed us to relax. "Stop, sit. Slow your hearts."

Without exchanging anything, everyone slipped to the floor. I sat with Temp, finding Boots's fingers and holding on tight, resting my head against the crawler's shell. Her hand was hot but I tried not to think about it as I calmed my heart rate. I turned my head to look at her sleeping face, peaceful, minis the layer of sweat making her look a bit distressed. My stomach caught in my throat, I almost lost her for good, not only that but she would have never gotten a chance to meet her dad for the first time, see our mom again, or play with Lizzie and her friends at school.

She almost died.

I didn't bother looking at the others, they wouldn't have minded if the crawlers had both fallen into the river with the rats if it meant they got away. Tick pushed her way back into my mind and I had to chalk her under my steadily growing list of dead friends. She, who didn't speak more than two sentences the whole trip, shared her food and played with Boots, but flew into the face of a rat to save my little sister with unwavering loyalty and bravery.

I kissed Boots's forehead and leaned against her side, holding her hand close as tears started to slide down my cheeks without my control. Despite all the other nerve wrenching things that had happened since we started this quest, hell since I fell down here, the roach's loss just pushed me completely over the edge, no pun intended. I knew from this moment on, I would never be able to flick or kill another cockroach if I ever returned to the Overland.

That's assuming I'm not the third to die.

"Thank you." Temp's voice startled me just as I was about to get vocal. "To weep when Tick has lost time."

I sniffled, trying to compose myself. "Boots would too if she…" I squeezed my eyelids closed for a second. "When she wakes up." I felt more tears burn at the corners of my eyes, cursing myself for uttering the word 'if'.

A warm hand rested on my shoulder and I involuntarily jerked away, I didn't want to talk to anyone right now, even Luxa. "Gregor," She whispered pathetically, her tone sad like the loss had actually affected her. "You know we would have caught Boots and Temp if they fell, Tick too, if there was time."

I nodded and rubbed my eyes, the comment actually making me feel a little better because it felt honest. The Underlanders didn't see jumping off a cliff the same way I did, not with their bats. "I know, thanks." She sat next to me and I welcomed her presence. "You must think it's ridiculous to cry over a crawler."

Luxa was quiet for a second but shook her head. "Vikus has taught me many things in our lessons, but the care for life is one I had the hardest time accepting after the loss of my parents; I did not believe that any being deserved to live if it could not hold their own in a fight, primarily crawlers." She ran a hand over Boots's sweat sheen forehead. "It was not until I witnessed a pack of crawlers return one of our injured scouts, attacked and left for dead by a gang of rats, that I comprehended this lesson. It was after this I began to understand there is more to life than just fighting."

My shoulders finally relaxed their tension after her story and I appreciated her sharing. I was mulling over what I wanted to say back when she suddenly spoke again. "I understand now, why Vikus left us with Ripred, I see now he was trying to protect us. I have you to thank, partially, for this." She paused, rolling the fabric of Boots's blanket between her fingers. "I have not wept since the death of my parents."

I turned to fully look at her but she was staring at Boots, her face calm like she had accepted that a long time ago. My heart ached, how much emotional pain does a person have to go through that they lose the ability to cry, that they have absolutely nothing left inside to the point tears no longer come. I threw away all the previous anger I had about her attitude or actions.

I reached out to cover her hand with mine when I ghosted over the little girl's forehead and even from the minimal contact I could feel the heat. "How often do we give her medicine? She still feels pretty hot."

Luxa moved to her knees, pressing her hand to my sister's head causing Boots to mumble in her sleep. She dropped another small dose of the weird liquid, washing it down with a sip of water. I stood as she reapplied the stoppers to the water pouch and glass bottle. "Let's get going." The rat had busied himself with reconing the surrounding embankment to make sure there was no more surprise attacks waiting for us.

He returned to us, his face and voice less menacing than before which caught me off guard because if the scar over his eye was any indication, he's seen death and loss much greater than one crawler. "Take heart, Overlander, your father is nearby."

My head snapped up at the new information, my mouth got dry. "How nearby?"

"No more than an hour walk," He paused a second in the universal 'here comes the bad news' after thought. "But, so are his guards, so we have to continue with extreme caution. Gox, we must bind our feet in webs. Do not speak and stay close behind me. We were lucky here but I don't think it will follow where we are going."

I didn't realize how much we would have needed the spinner but she quickly produced slippers for us to wear. I used my flashlight to help Luxa get hers on when it started to fade so I pulled out my bag only to have two good batteries left. "How much longer can the torch last? I'm on my last batteries and I'm not sure how much they have in them."

"Only a short time," She admitted. "Once we have your father we will need no light, Ares and Aurora will be able to return home in the dark."

I nodded glumly, muttering, "They're going to have to."

Ripred regrouped us and we began walking through the tunnels again but I stopped Henry when he moved to his position at the front. "Henry," I whispered to him, unbuckling the leather sheath on my waist and handing it, along with the sword attached, back to him. "You're better trained with this than I am."

He seemed surprised but quickly hardened, nodding and grasping my forearm in thanks. We switched places, him taking the spot next to his cousin at the back of our pack and I next to Ripred in the front; the two bats barely fluttered above us with short flaps to be as quiet as possible. "I almost trust you more with that thing." The rat hissed as he lead us through the tunnel.

"I guess you'll have to trust my instincts too, then." I muttered as we walked. We all moved stiffly, like a pebble out of place would spring another attack, but we were making good time and soon we'd reach my dad. Hope pushed my legs forward, surging through my veins and keeping me sane.

Ripred suddenly stopped us at a curve in the tunnel, he crouched as his nose twitched wildly. A few tense moments passed when two rats jumped out from the darkness, but I barely had time to identify them when the old rat sprang into action. Leaping at our attackers, the old rat impossibly latched onto one of the soldiers while simultaneously using his feet to rip at the other's eyes, blinding it.

The next moment, both of them were dead. I swallowed hard, basically all I had time to do in the short passage of time, no one even got a chance to think about attacking. The rat's defense just further confirmed what I thought from the moment I met him, he was lethal, even by rat standards.

He rubbed his blood soaked muzzle in the clean-ish fur of one of the dead rats' body."These were guards to the passage, we're about to enter open space, but stay against the wall, single file; the earth is unstable and this fall is immeasurable." We all nodded, still shocked by his ferocious display.

Just as the rat predicted, around the corner, our tunnel opened up with a narrow path along side of a huge canyon. Further ahead, a more solid looking strip of ground widened at the other end of the ravine where a stone arch marked the beginning of a wide road, probably worn down by thousands of rats moving in and out.

Ripred lead us across the weak pathway. As I walked, I didn't even tempt myself by glancing over the edge, if the fall was as great as Ripred thought, the last thing I wanted to do was look. A small chuck of the rock under my foot suddenly crumbled, sending a sprinkle of rocks into the void; I never heard it hit the bottom. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, not realising I had stopped moving until I felt a reassuring bump at my knees from Temp.

I took a silent breath, telling myself that Ares or Aurora would catch anyone if they fell and kept moving. When we reached solid ground, Ripred picked up the pace and we all raced to keep up while Henry and Luxa followed in the air. As we ran, I felt as unprotected as I ever had in the Underland so far, like there were thousands of rats staring at us from the shadows.

As we got closer, a constant 'ping' of metal grew louder when a circular pit appeared out of nowhere. It's walls were impossibly smooth, like black ice, and reflected the light burning from the large forge opposite us. Inside, a black figure beat on a chunk of metal, whatever it was had a furry pelt draped over its shoulders but details were impossible to see with the shadows from the fire.

My voice caught in my throat, the creature hammering in the pit didn't look human, it didn't look like my dad, but I knew immediately it was. "Dad." I gasped so quietly I almost didn't hear it and suddenly jumped into action, I leaped off the edge into the pit.

It was probably a fifteen or twenty foot fall, but I could care less; using the time tested technique of landing on my good shoulder and rolling, I popped up easily on my feet. The impact drew the attention away from the forge and I finally saw him, the man that had left my life in shambles exactly nine years, seven months, and seventeen days ago. I heard a few voices call out from behind me but ignored them.

By the time I reached him, I had lost the jubilant, giddy feeling of seeing my father; the happy, innocent little nine year old inside me quickly turned back into the battered eighteen year old that his absence created. He opened his arms to me with a large smile, even if he didn't recognize me right away. I let a frustrated yell burst from my chest, attacking his bare torso with my fists while hot tears burned down my cheeks.

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 **Well it's not as much as I had hoped to write but I thought you deserved a chapter after such a long wait. I'll do my best to write more, I think I'm on the upswing of the concussion (it's already been a week).**

 **However, my softball team is leaving for spring training next sunday as part of spring break so I won't be able to write or even open my computer probably. Anyway, I'll do everything I can to get y'all another chapter soon!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello lovely people, I have returned from Florida tanner and happy. I still have my concussion but I have faith that it'll finally be gone by the next time I take my test.**

 **I hope you haven't lost interest in this story because everytime I sit down to write it makes me even more excited.**

 **"In any project the important factor is your belief. Without belief, there can be no successful outcome." -William James.**

 **I do not own the Underland Chronicles or her characters.**

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"Gregor!" Her voice finally cut through my rage and I paused long enough for my father to grab my wrists, holding them firmly but not painfully to my sides.

"Son, son, please! Calm down!" He called into my ear, calm yet desperate. I squeezed my face together in pain but did as he and the other quest members pleaded, taking deep breaths through my nose in attempt to calm myself.

I didn't want to open my eyes, but when I did, I was met with an almost mirror image of...myself. He had a nearly completely shaved head that reminded me of a horrible rendition of an army hair cut, but the maybe inch long hair was brown like mine, and he had the same dark brown irises I saw in the reflection of puddles sometimes. His face was lean and chiseled like he had no fat to spare around his cheeks or chin, much like the rest of his body; even under the thick fireproof apron I could see highly defined muscles.

I swallowed hard and it suddenly became difficult to breathe. "Dad?" I squeaked, unable to say anything else. His face softened and he shifted his large, calloused hands to hold my shoulders, looking me over with an elated expression. A brief memory of him cracking nuts with his bare hands during the holidays sparked in the back of my mind.

"Son, Gregor, my boy." His voice wavered and he pulled me into a tight hug, confirming the muscle I had glanced at was indeed very dense; it was like there was zero fat anywhere on him. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again. How's your mother? Elizabeth?"

I nodded, deciding even in my confused emotional state that it was a bad time to admit I hadn't seen them in almost as long as he had. "And Margaret." I stepped aside to where Temp was with my youngest sister resting on his back.

He frowned in confusion. "Grandma?"

The line from the prophecy ran through my head, _'one lost up ahead'_ , I guess you couldn't get much more lost than forgetting family. "Yeah, mom was pregnant-"

"Baby Maggie? My baby…" He stumbled past me, falling to his knees next to the crawler, his hands hovering uncertainly over the little girl's sleeping form.

"We must fly, now." Luxa spoke quietly from beside me, glancing around the gently illuminated cavern as if she was searching for rats. "We will speak properly in Regalia. Henry, help me secure the babe." She started to usher Temp onto Aurora with a strand of silk that Gox had just finished spinning.

When he didn't respond, I finally noticed how far away from the rest of us he was standing, not helping or hurrying to get everyone out of this hell hole before we could be attacked again. In fact, he seemed pretty content with just standing there until a rat came up and skewered him. "No, Luxa, we have no need to hurry now." He shook his head calmly, his arms folded over his chest.

I frowned, cocking my eyebrows at the strange answer, when Ripred spoke. "No, I believe Henry has taken care of everything."

"Henry had to." The royal snapped back before bringing his fingers to his lips, blowing out a long, shrill whistle.

I looked around quickly. "What are you doing? Are you crazy? You'll alert-..." I relaxed my tense shoulder at the realization. "You want them to come, don't you."

"It seems I am not the only spy among us," Ripred confirmed, the old rat just as oddly calm as the traitorous royal. The growing sound of feet began from the road. "And a member of the royal family at that."

"I apologize, cousin." Henry quickly continued. "I had no choice, we were headed for disaster under Vikus; he only allies us to the weakest. Our only real chance to survive is to ally with those who are the most powerful. We will join forces with the gnawers and rule together, you and I."

Glancing at Luxa, I found her as still as stone, the rope she had in her hands had fallen to the floor while her hands remained curled as if she was still holding it; her expression mute. She took a breath and finally spoke, deathly calm. "Not now, Henry. Not ever."

Henry frowned at the refusal. "You have no choice Luxa, you must join us or die." He tried to sound serious but the idea clearly rattled him, no matter how evil all of this was, I could tell the last thing Henry wanted to do was kill his last real family member.

Luxa drew her sword, holding it easily, like an extension of her arm. "Today is as good a day as any, perhaps better." Her voice was strained as if she was miles away and a thousand years old, but it wasn't scared.

Ripred broke in with a chuckle. "They promised you a throne, did they? Really, Henry, you are not foolish enough to believe they will deliver it."

"They will! Together we will rid the Underland of crawlers, and spinners, and share their land among us." Henry returned confidently.

"But, why?" I finally found my voice again, actually disappointed at his betrayal. "You hate them, why would you do this?"

"I am tired of having weaklings as allies. Together, the rats and I will protect each other, rule, and be safe. It has been decided." He crossed his arms again with a final nod as if that would answer everything.

"Together," Ripred scoffed. "All of this togetherness you are planning, but only solitude awaits you. Here are your friends now."

Nearly fifty rats were suddenly circled around our group, most of them laughing at us. I glanced back at my dad who stood tall and strong behind me, just his presence did wonders to give me confidence and eased my anxiety. Temp had scurried for protection behind him, Boots still slept, oblivious to what was going on.

Luxa, Aurora, Gox, and Ripred stood by my side but I figured I could count Ares out as well, Henry was his bond, he must be in on this little ambush. I glanced at Ripred, wondering if he too was everything he said he is, when he winked at me. "Remember, Overlander, the prophecy only calls that four die. Think we can take them all, you and I?"

Dare I say I smiled in the face of a battle? Yes, because I knew at that moment Ripred was the most amazing rat I had ever met and I could trust him, but also that he trusted me.

My momentary relief was squashed when the circle of gnawers opened at one end, allowing a large silver rat to stride into the middle with us. Hanging precariously on his one ear, was a golden crown, my stomach dropped when I realized it was once a human's and at the same time Luxa gasped sharply as she recognized it as one of her parents'.

"King Gorger." Ripred dramatically gave a low bow. "I had hoped we would not have the honour of your presence here."

The king spoke, his voice low but not quiet. "A crawler told us you drowned, Ripred."

Ripred shrugged and nodded. "That was the plan, but so often plans go awry."

"We must thank you for bringing the warrior, it was Henry's job, but it matters not as long as he is here." He ignored the old rat's flamboyance, moving on right to the point. "I wanted to see him for myself before I killed him, but I expected so much more."

I straightened at King Gorger's gaze, sending him my best, time tested glare, but unlike nosey tourists, it didn't seem to affect him much. "Do not judge him too quickly, I have found him most delightfully full of surprises." Ripred moved to stand behind Henry, nudging him towards the pack. "Go, go. Stand with your friends."

Henry tripped on his way, stepping on Gorger's tail and earning laughter from the other gnawers. The King wasn't so entertained as he swept it out from underneath Henry and straight through to slice Gox right in half. My mouth fell open as blue blood pooling on the ground, in less than two seconds the third member of the quest was dead.

That left one more.

Gorger snapped at the rats again before sprawling out on the ground, trying to look relaxed but his muscles were tense with residual anger. "Who's next? Don't be shy, what about the pup? She looks soon to expire, anyway."

I clenched my fists, taking a raging step forward. "No. Not while I'm still standing." Another line from the prophecy suddenly made sense, _'The last who will die must decide where he stands',_ and everyone else's lives were in my hands, so that was a no to messing up.

With the realization that it was me that would be the last to die, I took another angry step towards the cocky rat king, doing my best to look big and confident. I was the warrior, I was the threat they were all worrying about, this was my fight.

I guess giving Henry his sword back was a bad idea after all, but I wouldn't give Ripred the satisfaction of saying _I told you so_.

With no weapon to bring to the fight, I dropped my fists, opening them to Gorger as a sign of surrender. "You want to kill me? Fine, go ahead."

"Gregor." Luxa gasped along with my father, astonished that I would give up so easily.

I shook my head, not turning to see her face. "This is what has to happen, isn't that right, Henry?" The royal avoided my gaze and I figured if I did die, I at least got to see the traitor regret his decision. "I'm all yours, Gorger."

The King stood back on his haunches, pleased with how easily I was giving up. "I have to say, I expected you to put up a small fight, but I will admit, this is far easier. I was planning on killing you slowly, but now I think I will make your death less painful."

As the silver gnawer raised his razor sharp claw in the air, primed to pierce my heart, I closed the distance in a quick jump. With the surprise, I landed a roundhouse kick square on the rat's jaw, knocking him down.

The attack bought me maybe forty five seconds and I sprinted back to my dad's forge, grabbing the biggest, heaviest looking forging hammer I could find in the limited time. When I turned back, Luxa was in the air on Aurora, looking back at me with the smallest hint of a proud smile, while my dad was pulling a beautiful sword out of a sheath hanging on the wall. I met his eyes and we simultaneously tossed our weapons across the anvil, exchanging the two.

The sword was one of the finest I had seen so far in the Underland, the handle was wrapped with comfortable black leather, a polished ruby accented the butt of the weapon as well as the two points of the hilt. It was incredible, and by the pleased look on his face, he had made it for me.

We exchanged a nod and charged at the incoming pack of rats.

I almost immediately lost track of Henry and Ares, at a few points of blindly swinging at rats I periodically lost Luxa and my dad as I protected Temp's hiding place in the forge. King Gorger quickly recovered and before we could slice down less than half of the pack, he let out a terrifying howl, halting everyone's actions. He stared me down, eyes bloodshot and veins pulsing with extreme animosity, breathing hard. "Warrior, you die. NOW."

I gulped and suddenly my dad had me by the waist, hurdling me up and out of the lowered platform. "Gregor, run, we'll cover you!" I tried to argue but the bullrushing crowd of rats convinced me otherwise, but I made sure to toss the elegant sword back to him so he could better protect himself and the extra weight wouldn't weigh me down.

Without any other distractions, I turned and sprinted back down the tunnels that brought us here in the first place. About halfway, my flashlight died and I cursed under my breath, if I couldn't see where I was running I could trip and then it was all over. I suddenly remembered the hard hat still on my head, and without missing a stride, flipped the mining light on to set the pitch black passage aglow.

Just as I started to worry about the nearing rats, I realized how short the road really was; I had probably less than a hundred yards before the canyon dropped off to its immeasurable depth. The edge we entered from would never hold up with me sprinting from the crowd of rats. That left one option and of course Sandwich saw it the whole time.

Jumping off the edge would save the others, so I set my wild emotions in check and steeled myself for my worst nightmare to come true.

Behind me, the rats had finally caught up, scrapping their teeth together and all but breathing down my neck. Gorger led the herd, grunting and puffing right behind me in a violent frenzy. I tried to put more space between us by pouring on all the speed I had, but the angry king stayed right with me as we neared the edge.

Just as I was about to leap off the ledge, searing pain erupted from the back of my leg as Gorger let out a second attack. It took every ounce of strength I had to flip myself in time so I landed on my back, able to defend Gorger's sharp teeth from ripping out my throat.

I felt the edges of my long hair at the cliff and decided it was now or never. After scrapping with the giant rat for several moments, I grabbed a chunk of fur at his shoulder with one hand and held tight to the crown with the other, using his weight to fling both of us flailing into the dark, endless pit.

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 **I hope you aren't too angry with the cliffhanger, but I wanted so badly to update because I love writing this as much as I hope you love to read it.**

 **Please feel free to leave me a review, even if it's simply about your spring break, I love to hear from you lovely people.**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Well unfortunately, my concussion has a mind of its own. I've started Neuro Cognitive Therapy to try and sort the jumble of what's left of my brain. I hope it won't be too much longer, but at this point I don't have too much hope.**

 **"My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline." Michael Jordan**

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I flew through the air, blood spilling out of the fresh wound on my calf. Heavier rats fell faster, knocking into me as they passed. Most of them were screaming and flailing, but I didn't feel bad that they hadn't managed stop in time, meeting their doom the same way I was seemed almost poetic. I lost Gorger shortly after pushing off the edge but my fist remained tightly around the golden crown.

I squeezed my eyes closed and kept my back towards the ground, the last thing I wanted to see right before dying was the same thing Jimmy did. I tried to imagine my mother, two sisters, and father after all of this was over as a full family again; living on the farm in Virginia with my dad taking care of the fields and cows while my mom and sisters planted a vegetable garden.

For a moment my mind wondered to Luxa, the few amazing kisses we shared and what could have happened if I wasn't in the situation I currently found myself in, even if she would be sad that I was gone. I wanted to say she'd grieve, then she'd be one of only a handful to do so. My hand tightened around the band, which ever one of her parents it belonged to, I only hoped that Luxa would find it in the pile of corpses and be able to have that bit of closure.

I quickly came to terms with dying then and there, my whole life I thought I deserved it for leaving my family, but I also imagined living that pathetic life on the streets where I'd never have a real meal and sit alone in the snow until I finally croaked, definitely not hurling myself off a cliff with giant, blood thirsty rats.

A shout from above me snapped my eyes open and I realized along with the hoards of rats that had found themselves falling, a distinctively hairless individual was also flailing around. Thanks to the light in my hat, I saw with a shock that Henry, who must have taken up the chase too, was now frantically spinning around in the air looking for his bond.

Of course Ares would catch him, the prophecy only called for one more person to die, not both of us.

It was a feat to watch as the black bat, who nearly totally blended into the surroundings, dived with a purpose. Henry's larger weight and my slower, steadier decent propelled him past me before Ares reached him, and I fully expected the bat to blow past me.

We were probably only two, maybe three hundred feet above the cavern floor when I suddenly crashed into a solid block of fur. My hands instantly grasped at the bat's dark coat and I turned over as we continued to dive towards the still falling royal.

"Ares!" He screamed desperately, reaching his arms out towards us as we neared him.

I crawled as far up on Ares's neck as I could manage and reached my free arm out to him while simultaneously questioning why I was trying to save him in the first place, but doing nothing if I could help was against my values so I did it anyway; for Luxa, I decided, as we got within a bat length of the traitor, because she deserved to slap this asshole for doing that to her.

Just as I was straining out to reach Henry's outstretched hand, I was suddenly jerked back. The change in altitude ripped me from Ares's back and for a split second I was airborne again before landing hard on my side again. I let out a strangled 'omph' at the impact.

Ares started to flap his wings and ascending. Frantically, I crawled to his side again only to find a pile of mangled rat carcasses. Henry was buried.

We landed on the platform again where a neutral Luxa was quickly organizing the other quest members. Temp darted onto Ares's back behind me and my dad climbed onto Aurora behind the princess.

Ripred, his fur matted with blood either his own or others', stood with a few other rats that seemed to also be traitors to King Gorger. He shot me a nasty smile. "Delightfully full of surprises."

"What are you going to do now?" I asked as Luxa made it obvious we had to get out of here now, but the rat made no move to join.

"Run! Run like the river. Fly you high, Overlander!" He called over his shoulder, already halfway out of sight down the road.

"Fly you high, Ripred!" I shouted after him, jarred as Ares took off behind Aurora, flying over his head in the next moment.

We flew over the valley where the rat bodies, King Gorger,, and Henry all lay, dead. It quickly turned into a larger tunnel that twisted and curved in all impossible directions. With a moment to finally breathe, I turned around to check Boots's condition.

She was still asleep, but her fever had noticeably reduced and I was able to let out a sigh of relief. Temp helped me remove the spider silk attaching her to his shell and I took her into my arms, sitting her upright for the first time in maybe thirty six hours. She wiggled in her sleep as I held her in front of me but otherwise remained peaceful.

"I did not know, Overlander. I swear to you, I did not know." Ares whispered suddenly.

I put a hand on his head with a sad smile, even if he couldn't see it. "I believe you." I responded, it was clear that the bat hadn't known, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting on his back; Henry would be. The flight continued in silence and I could revel in the events that had occurred.

The fall started to catch up to me, my body shook and I could feel a full on panic attack on the verge of blowing up. I held tight to my baby sister, burying my face in her soft curls in attempt to steady my breathing.

"Overlander, we have troubles." Ares's voice cut through my unstable breathing.

"What's wrong?" I managed to ask, the distraction working wonders on my nerves.

"Aurora and I do not know which direction leads back to Regalia."

I shook my head in attempt to understand. "We're lost? Luxa said you could get us home in the dark."

"Yes, but we must know which way to fly first, this area is uncharted by fliers."

I swallowed and closed my eyes for a second. "What did Luxa say we should do?"

Ares paused and I assumed he was talking to Aurora through a higher pitch sound than I could hear. "Luxa cannot speak."

 _She's probably in shock_. I groaned inwardly but understood her position, after what Henry did to her. "Aurora has torn a wing," Ares spoke again. "It must be mended if we are to continue."

I nodded, sucking up the turmoil going on in my chest to take charge. "Is there somewhere safe we can land?"

Ares nodded and a few minutes later, the twisting tunnel opened up into a large river that merged into an amazing waterfall and under any other circumstances, would be a beautiful sight as it poured out of natural stone arch to fall hundreds of feet into a smaller river. Next to the arch was a stone cliff where the two bats choose to land.

Luxa, my dad, and I slid off while Temp watched Boots resting on Ares's back. I gave my dad the blue medicine for my sister and he went to take care of her. I beelined to Luxa. Ares almost underestimated it when he said she couldn't talk; her eyes were fixed on the water but clearly she wasn't focused on it, she was shuddering in invisible cold, and she held her arms so tight her nails were turning the skin whiter than it was to start.

"Luxa? Luxa?" I pried her fingers from her arms, smoothing over the small crescent cuts, trying to catch her attention, but failing. I was hyper aware of the fact Aurora was still bleeding so I wrapped her in a blanket and moved on to her bond. Her left wing was cut and was slowly trickling blood. "I'll have to sew it up." I told her, not happy with the idea but it had to be done if we were going to get out of here before the rats could find us.

"Tend to the others first." She insisted, wobbling over to Luxa and wrapping her good wing around her.

I went to my dad where he had gotten Boots off of Ares and was sitting next to Temp with the little girl in his large arms, making her look even smaller in comparison. I felt her forehead and relaxed at the decrease in temperature. My dad seemed speechless as he held her in his arms but otherwise didn't have any major wounds, so I left him to absorb it all in.

Grabbing the first aid kit, I returned to the golden bat. Since she insisted on being cared for last, I cleaned the cut on the back of my calf; it wasn't too deep so I just wrapped it, but I wouldn't have trusted myself to stitch it together on my own at such an awkward angle anyway.

I took out one of the several needles and chose a thin but strong thread, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves as well as my hands and got to work. Aurora advised me with cleaning the wound and using the right ointment to numb the area first. I went slowly with the stitching to make sure the spaces were done correctly and didn't tear the delicate skin of her wing, but it was obviously hard on the bat to keep still. "Sorry, sorry." I repeated probably for the fifth time in the last minute.

"No, I am fine." She replied, the pain showed in her voice but I respected her perseverance. I finished with sweat rolling down my face from concentration, but her wing looked good. "How's that?"

Aurora cautiously spread the affected wing but I couldn't tell anything by her face if it was still painful. "It is well sewn, Overlander." She praised. "It will hold to Regalia, but I cannot fly until the numbness leaves my wing."

I nodded, that making sense. I left her with Luxa and walked back to where my dad had somehow started a fire. "You did good with that suture, where did you learn that?"

I shrugged, trying not to think about it. "How did you get this going so fast?"

He shot me a grin. "I've worked in that forge for upwards of five years, I know my way around a fire."

The comment made my voice catch in my throat, the forge where he had made that beautiful sword and probably hundreds more for the rats. "You make them weapons?"

The sly grin that appeared quickly disappeared, replaced by sorrow. "It isn't what you think, son. For the first three or so years, the rats barely fed me. Gorger took me to the very brink of starvation, and I was sick all the time. One of the few days I was clear minded, I overheard some of the gnawers talking about wanting to attack the humans with weapons like swords and cannons, and I got an idea.

"I told Gorger I could make those weapons from what I knew about ancient wars, and I gave him the plans for the forge. He realized that the more he fed me, the faster I could work, so eventually I would get three to four fish a day instead of a month." He stared into the fire for another moment, leaning his elbows against his knees. "Yes, I made them swords, but I cold forged them, and when metal isn't hot up enough when you strike it with a hammer, it gets weak. By the time the rats could train with them, they shattered on contact, but they just thought they were training so hard it was their fault."

We were both quiet as everything he said sank in. "How's the farm? You look fit, have you been taking care of the fields for your mother? The cattle?"

My heart dropped and I felt like I was going to throw up, but Temp piped up just before I could open my mouth. "Hear you the rats, hear you?"

I squeezed my eyes quickly and shook my head, thankful for the interruption. "Yeah, Temp, it was awful." The sounds of the rats' screeching as they fell through the air came back in HD.

"No. Hear you the rats, hear you?" He repeated.

Dad frowned, scooting to the edge of the cliff and peering over. He moved back to the rock he had been sitting on with a sour expression. "There's probably two hundred of them down there, it'll take them a bit, but they'll manage to scale the waterfall in a few hours."

"What do we do? It'll take at least an hour for Aurora to get feeling back in her wing and Ares doesn't know the way back to Regalia." I asked, frustrated but beyond relieved that he was there to help me, I couldn't imagine trying to figure this whole thing out on my own.

Luxa was in shock, Aurora was hurt, Ares was curled up off to the side and hadn't moved or said anything since we landed, so he was basically useless as well, Boots was getting better but couldn't offer much help in the first place. It left me, Temp, and not that he hasn't already been a lifesaver, the roach couldn't hold off two hundred rats on his own.

"Regalia is to the north," He said and it was great that he knew that, but it's not like there was a tree with moss or a sunset we could use as reference to figure out which way that was. That didn't seem to deter him as he dug through the first aid kit, pulling out a thin needle and a stone from his pocket. "Get a bowl and fill it with water, pour out the medicine if you have to, but hurry."

Although not following what he was trying to do by repeatedly striking the rock against the needle, I moved quickly to do what he asked, jogging over to the rushing rapids to fill the least important looking ceramic bowl I could find. "What are you doing?"

He took the bowl from me without missing a beat. "This rock is called a lodestone, it's magnetic iron ore. That pit they kept me in had a huge pile and I made sure to keep one in my pocket just in case."

"In case?"

"In case I escaped, if I rub the needle against it, it becomes magnetized and turns into a compass. If I can place it properly on the surface of the water…" His voice faded as he concentrated, sliding the needle into the water, his tongue stuck out like it would help. It floated and amazingly took a quarter turn. "It points north." He grinned, slapping his knees in happiness.

My mouth fell open, I knew my dad was a science teacher and he loved stuff like this, but I had no idea it could be so useful in real life. I guess if I ever found myself in school again, I'll understand why I need to learn about the Earth's magnetic fields. "Just like a compass! Huh, that's sweet dad."

He sat up straighter with pride. "Well, it's probably off by a few degrees, but it's close enough for the bats to get us home."

We shared a smile but it was short lasted when the scraping of claws reminded us about the incoming rat army. "Aurora," I called to the golden bat as I packed up the remaining supplies. "How's your wing?"

"I will manage." She purred back uneasily, noticing the threat.

"Ares, we have a direction, can you get us the rest of the way to Regalia?" I asked over my shoulder to the saulking bat. He confirmed and I realized the only one not moving, aside from Boots that is, was Luxa; she sat where Aurora had placed her with my blanket still draped over her shoulders.

I sighed, I knew she was struggling with Henry's betrayal but now was not the time to sulk next to the fire. I jogged to her, wrapping my arms under her light frame to pull her to her feet. I cradled her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. "Lux. Lux, listen to me, we have to get out of here right now, but I need you to move." I received nothing after a minute and growled, running back to my dad where he was waiting next to Ares, glancing nervously at the cliff edge.

"Can you fly on Ares with Temp and Boots? I can't get Luxa to fly Aurora-" My dad cut off my frantic talking with a hand on my shoulder.

"Take care of her, I'll watch your sister, but we need to leave, _now._ " I nodded and sprinted back to Aurora, sweeping Luxa off her feet and jumping onto the golden bat. We took off just as the first wave of gnawers made it over the rim of the waterfall, cursing at us as we gained altitude. I looked away quickly to avoid losing my last bit of jerky down Luxa's back.

"Ares recognizes our path." Aurora told me and I almost fell off her back in relief. The open tunnels we flew through looked completely identical to the last eight we passed.

I was only happy for a moment. As we flew towards civilization, bodies began to pile up. Rats, humans, bats, as well as other species I hadn't even met yet like mice and butterflies of all things; all lifeless at the bottom of the cavern. I couldn't be more elated when the light on my helmet finally went out, casting darkness over the slaughter. It felt like we were flying faster without landmarks.

Horns announced our arrival before I could even see the glow of the city, people on the streets waved. I couldn't push myself to respond and Luxa had her head buried in Aurora's neck since we took off. My heart hurt for her, she already lost so much, I couldn't imagine the pain and turmoil going on inside her right now.

The stadium was full and cheered as we flew towards High Hall. We came in for a landing, but the bats were so drained and worn out from the long flight that they slid in on their stomachs, slowly coming into a stop a dozen or so feet from the door.

Underlanders surrounded us, getting the two bats on stretchers while whisking my dad away for medical treatment. I helped Dulcet ease Boots off of Ares before he was taken out of the room, Temp loyally following behind her as she hurried away. I waved off attempts to bandage the shallow cuts on my arms and cheek I hadn't noticed when I was fighting the rats at the forge, but I did allow some medical looking person to formally look at my calf.

I walked through rushing bodies to where the stunned royal stood, motionless in the chaos. Her usually bright eyes were dull and unfocused, like she was lost in her own world. I stood behind her, close enough for her to feel my presence but not actually touching her so she could fight her battle and not feel overwhelmed.

Vikus appeared just as the hustle was clearing out, concern clear on his face for the absence of the second royal family member. "Henry was working with the rats." I told him quietly. The old man's face fell in anguish, silently opening his arms to his only remaining grandchild.

Luxa hesitated and I knew if she didn't accept his comfort, she would really struggle to move on from the tragedy. I opened my bag and dug out the crown, handing it to her and stepping back. She stared hard at the symbol of nobility, a tear appeared at the corner of her eye and she finally rushed forward to accept her grandpa's hug. Vikus pressed his cheek against her short silver hair, held back by her own golden band.

A sad smile formed on my face and I headed out of High Hall to give them privacy.

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 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So sorry this took so long to get out, I have had zero time to sit down and write. Softball season is in full swing, this week alone we had 10 games, and on top of it all my concussion is still dragging out.**

 **"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can." - Nikos Kazantzakis**

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Solovet intercepted me outside High Hall and took me down to the hospital, insisting that my cuts needed to be fully addressed. They cleaned and stitched my calf, placed small bandages on my cheek, and wrapped a few spots on my arms; the doctor guy said my shoulder had healed enough to leave it unbandaged but warned me not to push it or the scabs would burst.

I talked to the older woman while being worked on, mostly to distract from the needle punching through my skin; I don't know how Aurora put up with it on that waterfall. I started where we separated, telling her about the contaminated water, the spiders, Boots's fever, Tick's sacrifice, finding my dad, and how every line in Sandwich's prophecy had come true.

When I finished, I felt drained; the only thing I wanted was to hug my little sister and take a nap. Solovet brought me to the nursery where Boots had obviously gotten a bath and changed clothes. She was still noticeably warm, but was moving among the other sick kids and Dulcet promised it would pass soon. "We cannot cure many things, but it is simple a case of damp fever." She soothed Boots's curls from where her head rested on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile.

I nodded but still felt uneasy, I didn't really know how to take care of her; whenever Lizzie was sick, my mom would take care of her and insisted I stay away so she didn't have to take care of two sick kids. I swallowed hard as I looked at her crazy curls bunched up at my neck, meeting the caretaker's soft gaze. "Would you mind watching her tonight? I just want to make sure she's ok."

Dulcet nodded and took the eight year old from me. I asked Solovet to take me to where my dad was put up in the hospital. He was asleep when I walked in, the rat skins were replaced by the latest in spinner silk fashion and the stubble around his jaw had been shaved. I didn't realize he had been cut up during the battle, but only a small place on his neck needed bandaging. They had also given him a scrub down, his skin was almost five shades lighter without all the coal dust but was still a dark olive tone like mine, which was surprising considering almost nine years of no sun.

"He'll be ok, right?" I whispered, he looked peaceful and I didn't want to bother his sleep.

"No one who spends years with the rats can expect to be unchanged." Solovet looked at him sadly. "But his body will heal."

I nodded and started out of the hospital, the smell was making my skin crawl. As I turned the corner, a loud voice called out. "Overlander!" Mareth appeared, pulling me into a tight hug. I laughed, happy to see that he got back to the city okay, patting his back just as hard as he had mine.

"Hey, Mareth, how's it going?"

The man's previously joyous expression faltered for a moment. "Darkly, but you have brought light back to us."

I nodded, one of the final lines of the prophecy making sense; _An Overland warrior, a son of the sun, may he bring us back light, may he bring us back none_. I smiled, I guess I had managed to succeed where Sandwich was unsure after all. "Oh, yeah?"

He nodded, starting to walk me back to the royal quarters. "News of King Gorger's death reached the rats on the front line and they fell into chaos. We have pushed them far into the Dead Lands, without a leader, they were in utter disorder."

"Good," I muttered, watching my feet as we walked. "I hope they stay that way. Thanks, Mareth." The soldier gave me a nod before leaving me. I rubbed my face and laid in bed, my back cracking from being so stiff for the last few days.

I let out a sigh, falling asleep almost immediately.

I was sleeping peacefully until Luxa burst into my room, the nearly silent shift of the curtain would have done little to wake a normal person, but it jolted me to my feet before the royal could make it further inside the doorway. My abrupt movements took Luxa by surprise and whatever frantic issue she had plowed in with was momentarily forgotten. "You are very easy to frighten."

I shook my head as my heart calmed now that nothing was threatening me, leaning against the bed. "I'm a light sleeper, is there something I can help you with?"

She nodded and for the first time I noticed how red her eyes were, probably from crying all night or early this morning, but her voice and posture seemed more like when I first met her. "We must go quickly, they mean to banish Ares."

Without hesitating, I grabbed her elbow and hustled us out of my room. In the larger space of the royal atrium, Luxa took the lead and we ran through the palace, down stairs and countless corridors. "He knew not of Henry's plot any more than I." She muttered just before we burst into a room I had never been in.

"I know." I muttered under my breath to her as everyone adjusted to our sudden appearance. There were hundreds of humans and bats in the bleacher like seating, elevated from the main area of the room like an amphitheatre. The council, including Vikus and Solovet, sat in the front row looking towards poor Ares where he stood in the middle of the stage, slouched over at the weight of the situation, not to mention his own demons.

Aurora flew down at our entrance to join us on the platform. "What's going on here?" My voice boomed through the space, slightly raspy from just waking up, making it sound more rough and angry; several council members shrunk down in their seats.

Everyone rose either for me or Luxa, but I didn't care. "Greetings, Warrior, and many thanks for all you have brought us." Vikus's voice was stiff and formal but just a flash of a smile made him seem happy to see me.

"What's going on, what are you doing to Ares?" I ignored the gracious thanks and pushed the issue. Luxa mentioned that no one survives in the dead land alone after banishment, so that's all I really focused on, I could apologize for being rude later.

Vikus frowned. "We are about to vote on his fate, there has been much debate if he was cognizant of Henry's plot."

I shook my head and spoke harshly. "He wasn't, I saw it in his eyes. He was just as betrayed as all of us were."

A red bat folded and unfolded his wings. "Ares was bonded to Henry, it is difficult for us to believe his was not involved."

I took a breath to keep my anger in check, walking over to Ares to stand in front of him. "You weren't there, you didn't see how hard he fought those rats. To protect us. Protect me. Protect your princess." The attack made the bat lower his head.

"Even if Ares is cleared on the charge of treason, there is still the issue of breaking his bond." A council member chimed in.

I shook my head in frustration, they just weren't getting it. "Ares caught me first because I was closer, but we still tried to reach Henry until the last second. We wanted to bring him back so you could have the chance to confront him yourselves, to serve justice, but this isn't justice! Ares did nothing but help us on this quest, especially after Henry's betrayal."

"He lost his bond and started a war in the same day, who among us could ever trust him again?" A woman called from somewhere.

"I could!" I shouted, silencing the crowd in seconds as I scanned their faces with my best menacing glare. "I trust this flier with my life because he's already saved it when it mattered most."

I turned and offered the pitch black flier my hand, hoping he understood what I wanted. He shook his head as he looked at it in wonder. "No, Overlander, I am not worthy to accept." He whispered.

Refusing to take that as an answer, I reached out to take his claw anyway. Luxa appeared and fed me the words in a whisper but she might as well have been yelling with how pin drop silent the room had become. "Ares the flier, I bond to you, Our life and death are one, we two. In dark, in flame, in war, in strife, I save to you as I save my life."

Ares perked up just a bit but still hesitated. I felt my own hope falter as his silence was like a punch to the chest. "Please say it back." I whispered to him, meeting his eyes.

The bat took a moment but finally recited it back, replacing his name with mine. "Gregor the human, I bond to you, Our life and death are one, we two. In dark, in flame, in war, in strife, I save you as I save my life."

I let out the breath I had been holding and squeezed his claws with a smile. I turned back around to where members of the council had started shuffling through their papers, muttering about the law. "If you want to banish Ares, you have to go through me."

My voice pierced their movements, halting them with scared glances and I thanked my vocal cords for delivering the threat so effectively. Luxa shifted closer, crossing her arms. "I believe this trial shall conclude now." She looked intimidating but somehow I figured she had no real say in if it stopped or not.

One man still feverantly searched through his scrolls when Vikus snapped at him. "Oh stop rattling your skin, we clearly have no precedent for this."

I almost broke into a smile and turned to Ares. "Let's get out of here, huh?" He seemed very relieved at the idea and I easily climbed onto his back. I glanced back at the council and then Luxa. "You coming or what?"

She laughed, mounting Aurora as Ares and I took off. We laughed when they struggled to keep up and flew around the skies of Regalia, dog-fighting without actually touching one another. Ares took us to his cave and I jumped off, rolling on my good shoulder until I landed flat on my back, all of my limbs spread out as I stared up at the ceiling trying to catch my breath.

Luxa appeared, sitting in the space next to my armpit created by my extended arm. We sat in silence for several moments until she spoke, looking forward. "Thank you. For saving him."

I sat up on my elbow to face her. "He saved me." I glanced over at the bat and smiled. "I owed him that." She nodded and looked down at her knees but didn't look any happier. I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I only worry of the council's actions when you are no longer here."

My frown grew. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

Luxa finally meet my gaze, looking slightly puzzled. "Your father, he can return to your family. That is the reason you ran away, so now you may return. Return to the Overland."

I shook my head, sitting up fully. "I never felt whole in the Overland, before or after my dad disappeared. I ran away because of him, yeah, but through the years of moving from city to city, I realized there was more to it than that. I thought I needed to be free, but really I was just trying to find a place to fit in, and I think I finally found it; here in the Underland. In Regalia with Ares," I covered her folded hands with mine. "With you."

The princess shook her head sadly, looking down to our hands. "We cannot be together, Gregor."

Whether she was going to continue or not I was already mimicking her shaking head. "I know you were confused before, but I'm willing to make this work; I don't care if that means I have to be king, I'd be willing to work for you, for us, if you are."

I grinned at her, taking her hands in mine and giving them a reassuring squeeze. I searched her face but she almost refused to meet me. "Give me a chance. Please."

Luxa swallowed and closed her eyes tight. "There is nothing I can do, it is forbidden for Overlanders and Underlanders to be together. I am to be queen, my heir must maintain Sandwich's bloodline as pure as if it were him; a Halflander could never rule, the people would not allow it. If I do not produce a heir, the crown will go to my cousins, and I would die before I see Regalia fall to them. I am so sorry Gregor. If you wish to stay, I will grant you full citizenship, and you may continue to live in the royal chambers or move to the city."

She stood, pulling her hands from my now limp pair, her eyes still fixed on the ground. I couldn't keep my own head from falling in despair. "I must go, perhaps you could walk through the streets and get acquainted?" Her feet hesitated like she expected me to react but after a moment, completely moved away and I heard Aurora ascend, flying out of the cave.

I sat in disheartenment, staring at the smooth black rock under my feet until I couldn't tell if it was moving or if my eyes were too dry to focus. Ares fluttered over, wrapping a wing around my miserable frame and I suddenly understood why fliers and humans have made such great pairs over the centuries; having someone who supported you no matter what seemed like a fairy-tale.

I climbed onto his back without saying anything and he took off, flying towards the city. "Can you drop me off? I think I need some time to...clear my head." Ares touched down maybe eight blocks from the palace. "I'll just use the platform to get back, I'll see you tonight." He nodded and somewhat reluctantly, flew away.

Walking through the streets of Regalia was like my therapy. I met so many happy citizens there was no way I could stay in my depressed state for more than half a block. Kids ran up to me with wooden swords while others just flat out jumped on my back. I laughed pulling them into my arms and spinning until we were both too dizzy to stand, once I was on the ground even more of them would swarm, and I welcomed it. It felt so good to be appreciated and loved after so many years of solitude.

I had made it to the last block, the wooden platform was just above my head and I could see the soldiers at the bottom who waited for my word to lower it. I walked slower, there was close to no one out on the streets anymore and I figured it was getting late or they were eating dinner.

Halfway down, a heavenly smell caught my nose and I couldn't help but follow it into a shoppe. A loaf of bread was carved into a stone sign that hung next to the open doorway, indicating it was some kind of bakery, and it certainly smelled like it. My stomach growled loudly in the protest of low nutrients at the sight of the amazing, delicious looking products on display under the counter.

"Be right there!" A feminine voice called out from somewhere, breaking my hungry gaze just in time to watch a beautiful young woman appear from a back room, running a cloth over her hands that hung from the apron tied around her slender frame. She was covered in flour, there was a streak on her cheek, probably from a quick pass of the back of her hand, but she was radiant.

Her face brightened when she recognized me, bowing slightly. "Oh, Warrior, welcome. Thank you for saving Regalia."

I felt myself blush, suddenly unsure of what to do with my hands, settling with scratching the back of my neck. "No problem, uh, you can call me Gregor though."

She smiled, it was soft and small dimples appeared at the corners of her lips. "Gregor, it is very nice to meet you. My name is Serenity."

"Serenity," Her name itself relaxed my tense muscles and I chastised myself for being so nervous. "That's a beautiful name."

Her neck flushed and she glanced down, her smile growing to show her teeth. "Thank you. Can I offer you some bread? My father would skin me if the Warrior came into our shoppe and I did not offer him a sample."

I chuckled but nodded. "Yeah, I'd love that."

FIN

* * *

 **Hey so I hope you liked it. This is the official END of the story! Yay! One of the few I've ever been able to complete lol but no worries! I'm so excited to start on The Prophecy of Bane because who wouldn't want to see the whole series done like this? I know I think about it pretty much since I've read the books. Count on a better ending than Code of Claw too lol.**

 **Don't worry, I'm writing a epilogue for this because there's something else I want to hit on: Boots and his dad's departure! Plus many a bit more on Serenity ;)**

 **Always,**

 **Artemis.**


	17. Epilogue

**"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor." -Franklin D. Roosevelt**

* * *

I couldn't stop smiling when I came back from the bakery. Ares, on the other hand, had been fluttering around when I arrived and chastised me for taking so long; I guess I had spent three hours in the shoppe, but as I thought about spending all that time with Serenity, it was more than worth it.

My smile was only extinguished when the next day, Dulcet woke me, saying I had to get up to eat before sending my family off. I forced myself out of bed and down to the baths, I needed the cool water to help me think.

I grabbed a small breakfast from the kitchen and met my dad and Boots in High Hall. My dad was chatting with Vikus and Boots was tearfully petting Temp goodbye. Luxa stood off to the side with Aurora, meeting my eyes for a moment when I walked in but was quick to look away. She said something to Vikus and he turned to me with a smile.

"Greetings, Gregor, I am saddened I could not join you but Luxa will be an excellent guide to the Waterway entrance." I nodded at the old man and accepted his hand in a forearm grasp. He knew I was staying and he purposely worded his goodbye to avoid giving it away, I would have to thank him when I got back.

Mareth appeared and handed me a large roll of cash. "I took it from the museum, Vikus said it was necessary in the Overland."

I chuckled, gently running through the stack, impressed by the amount. "Yeah, thanks, Mareth." We clasped forearms too and I handed the money to my dad for safer keeping.

"This way is safe for now, but that status is ever changing in the Underland, do hurry." Solovet gave me and my dad a quick hug before ushering us onto our respective fliers. Luxa took off on Aurora and Ares was quick to catch up, flying just above the golden bat's left side; we flew the whole way with just Boots's quiet babble to my dad behind me.

It wasn't much longer than ten minutes when the foaming waterway opened up to a vast body of water where we picked up two guards on their bats. Even though there weren't any rats out here, the two story spiked tail I saw flip out of the water made me happy to have them, especially when I no longer had a sword.

Ares came up on a cone and almost stopped flapping his wings as the misty gusts pushed us upward. At the top, the large bat closed his wings, zipping through the opening and into a new set of tunnels. These weren't the smooth, carved shafts, but the concrete ones of construction workers or miners. I breathed deeply for what felt like the first time in several days, it was familiar, but I certainly didn't miss those freezing nights huddled in its dark caverns.

We only flew for a few minutes before we came to an abandoned stairwell. "I cannot go further," Ares nodded up. "This is your way home."

My dad slid off of the bat and helped Boots down, I followed after a moment, meeting Luxa at the bottom of the steps. "Dad," I called as he got a few steps up, my head down in shame and sudden terror. I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that this was my dad and he loved me no matter what; at least I hoped. "There's something you need to know."

He nodded and stepped down a few steps. "What is it, son?"

I almost cringed at the term of endearment and swallowed hard. "I...I haven't been at the farm all these years. I ran away from home after you disappeared and...I haven't seen them since, I never met Boots until now and it's been almost ten years since I saw mom or Elizabeth."

His face fell but Boots interjected before he could respond. "Lizzie! Not Elizabeth, she hates that."

I nodded at the little girl as she entertained herself by jumping from step to step, looking back at my dad to meet his eyes. He shook his head in disbelief. "You were only nine-you couldn't-how did you-..." His broken questions trailed off as he stared at a point near my feet. "Why?"

"I heard mom talking to grandma about how she didn't know how she would pay for all the baby supplies without you...I couldn't work to help pay the bills so I came to the conclusion that her and the girls would do better without my mouth to feed. I ran away." His expression was disappointed but his face grew softer.

"I'll be honest Gregor, one of the only things that kept me going during my time here was the fact you were there, taking care of your mother and sister…" He trailed off but reach forward to grasp me into a tight hug. "Gregor, no matter how hard things got, the last thing you are to your mother and I is a burden. Come on, your mother will be beside herself as soon as she sees you, I guarantee it."

I wiggled out of his tight hold. "That's why I brought it up dad, I can't go back. I left her a note that explained everything, and told her I loved her no matter how far apart we were, but I was never coming back so she could have the life she deserved and I couldn't give her." I shook my head almost violently as tears burned at the corners of my eyes. "I could never face her after so long."

Dad stood two steps above me in silence, his face pained. After a moment he glanced back at the carefree eight year old as she danced across the stone stairway. "Take her home," I cut through the quiet. "Mom needs her, and she needs you. She hasn't needed me for ten years, but please, she can't know where I am. You have to make sure Boots doesn't talk about me."

He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment like the request caused him physical pain, but then he nodded. "Alright, alright. Only if you keep in touch." It took me by surprised and I glanced back at Luxa. She shrugged, seemingly not understanding any more than me. "I fell from the laundry room in our old building, you might not remember, but there's a neighbor that might still live there. I'll have her mail your letters to me and leave mine in the vent for you. Please, son, I just got you back, I don't want to lose you."

Luxa gave me a short nod like she at least thought it was possible so I nodded at him. "Ok, as long as mom doesn't find out."

He pulled me into another long, strong hug. When he pulled away, he clasped me on the shoulder. "I love you, son."

"I love you too."

I brought Boots in for a goodbye hug. "Bye bye Greggy, see you soon!" I didn't bother correcting or rebutting her and just waved as she and my dad climbed the rest of the way up the staircase.

Luxa put a hand on my shoulder several minutes after they had disappeared. Wordlessly, I climbed back on Ares and we retraced our steps to Regalia. The flickering lights of the city brought me back to my senses and I asked Ares to land. Aurora continued towards the palace and I saw Luxa look back at me in confusion from above.

I thanked the black bat and walked the block and a half to the bakery. When I walked in, Serenity was kneading dough with her back to the door. She was humming as she worked but noticed my presence. "Hello-oh, Gregor," Her business greeting melted into a honest smile that made my heart flutter. "It is good to see you. Is something wrong?"

I sniffled and ran the back of my hand over my face. She slipped her apron from around her waist and walked around the display case, wordlessly pulling me into a warm hug. It was firm but more tender than the one my father had supplied. I wrapped my arms around her slim figure and buried my face in her neck, breathing in the wonderful aroma of bread that surrounded her. "I told my father," I mumbled and she pulled away, forcing me to sit down while she got some bread and meat for a snack; I didn't realize how hungry I was, it must have been around dinner time by now.

"I told him I ran away and…" I shook my head, placing my hands over my face. "He was so disappointed, he said he was depending on me to take care of my mom and sisters, and I failed."

Serenity ran her hand over my good shoulder soothingly. "He is your father, nothing you could do would ever truly disappoint him." I nodded because that's almost exactly what he said. "Your past actions are just that, in the past. Although he did not expect this, he knows your decisions have made you who you are and he must be proud of your bravery; everything you have done has brought you to this moment."

I turned to meet her tender, heartfelt gaze and felt all the pressures fall away. "And I wouldn't change a thing." I leaned forward, wanting nothing but to kiss her, however, the last thing I was going to do was turn this into another situation like Luxa.

Serenity met me halfway and our lips finally connected. I almost cheered out loud but tilted my head to deepen our kiss, absorbing as much of her compassion and sincerity as I could. I ran my hand over her impossibly soft cheek and felt my shoulders relax, allowing myself to get lost in her because I deserved it. I couldn't be happier to have stumbled into the bakery and finally have found someone that would accept me and reciprocate my affection.

* * *

 **Well, that's officially a wrap on this piece! I don't want to give away too much about what I plan on doing regarding Serenity or Boots and the rest of the prophecy, but I'll just say that my original pen name had Gluxa in it so...lol.**

 **I'll start working on Book 2 soon, school is almost done for the year so I'll have some more time but hopefully you can stick with me :) I'm not totally sure where I want to go with the title for the next one or if I should try to tie it in somehow with 'Runaway' so if anyone has an idea, shoot it in a review or a PM.**

 **A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially those who did so on every chapter. I am so appreciative for all your words, kind or otherwise. The census is positive so I'm so glad I could produce something that could be enjoyed and I hope I can do the same for this next installment!**

 **Yours,**

 **Artemis.**


	18. Update

Quick update, I posted the first chapter to the next installment of this series!

I decided on the name Refugee. Basically the idea came to me when thinking about Gregor living in the Underland. Having lived in the Overland and moving to the Underland essentially makes him a refugee because he was wanted for "crimes" in the Overland. I hope that makes sense lol.

Also, as of November 2016, I rewrote and edited the chapters. I caught a lot of stupid mistakes, since I didn't have a beta for this story, some stuff got skipped over.

Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you enjoyed reading Runaway that you head over and check out Refugee and maybe drop a review? :)

A huge thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story up to this point, I'm so grateful for it.

Always,

Artemis.


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